Why families delay care decisions — and the 72-hour crisis trap

Full analysis

Cory Fosco says the most common reason families wait too long is the belief that moving a loved one to a facility equals abandonment — a conviction rooted in guilt, denial, and grief. He distinguishes between a temporary setback (which has a nameable cause like an infection or medication change, and resolves back to a prior baseline) and a true decline (where the person establishes a new, lower baseline after the cause resolves). The practical danger of waiting: when an acute event such as a hip fracture sends someone to a hospital, discharge planners — under pressure to free up beds — typically give families a list of facilities and a roughly 72-hour window to choose one, forcing a major decision with no preparation.