Part I: Park House. Life in Park House -- Mrs Van Dam Dies --
The Family -- Eating Problems -- Staff Vicissitudes -- Mrs Scharloo Doesn't Want To Go On -- Daily Care -- Everyday Life -- Inadequate Care -- Versterven -- Wanting to Die -- Rough Treatment -- Reorganisation and Black Magic -- Leontien and Mrs Grasberg -- Strong Women, Loafing Men -- Limited Labour Market -- The Big Problem -- The Coup and the Death of Mrs Driessen --
Part II: The Blauwbörgje Case The Nursing Home Doctor's Husband -- The Ex-wife -- The Nursing Home Doctor --
The Colleague of the Nursing Home Doctor -- The Daughter --
The Managers -- The Internist -- The Head Nurse -- The Journalist -- Mr Bruggeling -- The Doctors at De Merenberg --
The Researcher -- How It All Ended.

"In Death's Waiting Room is a penetrating story about people suffering from dementia in a multi-cultural society, relevant to us all. Anne-Mei The carried out two years of ethnographic research in a nursing home in the Netherlands revealing what usually remains hidden from the public: the decision to stop treatment, the cultural and social gap between the Dutch occupants and the black Caribbean nursing staff, the communication problems with relatives, the tensions and aggression. But she also shares with us the touching and funny moments and experiences with the elderly occupants. This book also unravels "the Blauwborgje case"--Which was the focus of much media attention in the Netherlands in the late 1990s - in which a nursing home refused to re-hydrate a man with extreme dementia because they considered his condition to be terminal, whilst his family disagreed and pressed charges for attempted murder. Anne-Mei The gives an account of the events that took place and also explores the wider relevance of the case"-- Publisher's description.