Care For The Elderly

In my social work class, we are talking about working with the elderly in places such as assisted living facilities, nursing homes, or hospice.  As part of the lesson, we watched a documentary which portrayed some of the common abuses and neglect the elderly face, specifically in assisted living facilities.  It is sad to think thee people are being put into these facilities because they need extra help and care, yet they are not receiving the care they deserve.  This is not to say that all assisted living facilities or nursing are filled with neglectful staff members as I am sure many do provide adequate care to residents, but the ones that do not need to change.  The people living in these places, more often than not, do not want to be there, relying on caregivers to get through each day.  I am sure all of them would much rather be living at home independently, but because they cannot perform necessary tasks on their own, they are forced to remain in these homes.  This conversation also made me think of an article we read in College Writing where the author proposed robot caregivers to take care of the elderly.  It seems as though our society is not giving elders the respect they deserve.  Elderly people seek companionship, family, and friends.  They desire real human communication and interactions, not some pile of metal.  We need to make sure the elderly are being taken care of by real caregivers who strive to take care of their patients as best they can.  The elderly deserve to be taken of and respected, and it is about time we fill assisted living facilities and nursing homes with compassionate caregivers who keep the best interests of the elderly in mind.