Opinion: Seeing the 'invisible patient'

Not once in the years I cared for my mother did any of her physicians ask me how I was doing. When was the last time I saw my own physician? Was I eating properly? Sleeping enough? Depressed? What did I do for fun? Frankly, I didn't notice their apparent lack of concern, nor had I considered it since — until hearing a recent talk by Dr. Ronald D. Adelman, the co-chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. The subject was caregiver burden and how physicians ought to be attending to the "invisible patient," the one supporting an elderly family member with dementia or a heart condition or diabetes — or all of the above.