Ageism

Ageism and Cousin Elizabeth

Part 1 of Ageism. See Part 2 or go to Part 3.

Several years ago, my grandmother died in an extended care facility. My grandmother, living in a nursing home, was a very emotional experience for me. I would have preferred that she stay with my husband and I, though we both worked long hours.

Unfortunately, her physician told me she needed around the clock monitoring due to her heart condition and I was not qualified to monitor her, nor did I have the necessary equipment. She was an hour and a half drive away and I visited, called and sent cards. I was out of state on vacation when the decision was made to move her to an extended care facility and the facility was chosen.

I was satisfied with much of her experience since she had other family in the area and frequently had visitors. The institution appeared to be hygienic, attractive, professional and adequately staffed. However, I could not be certain how she was treated when family members were not available to observe staff members and interactions.

I had read about the difficulty extended care facilities have in employing well trained, competent people. Nursing homes/extended care facilities are frequently underfunded and their pay scale is inadequate for retaining qualified employees - generally, there is much disruptive turnover. I knew the magnitude of this issue would vary from facility to facility.

Later, my grandmother shared some disturbing information with me. I contacted my father and discovered that he knew about her allegations, but doubted my grandmother’s mental awareness. I did not.

Defining Nursing Home and Extended Care Facility

According to the National Care Planning Council nursing homes are a cost-effective way to enable patients with injuries, acute illnesses or postoperative care needs to recover in an environment outside a hospital (P. 1). Whereas, an extended care facility, is meant to care for residents who will be there due to chronic illness or disability for an extended periods including until the resident passes away. Many of us use the terms interchangeably, though there an important differences of which families should be aware.

Nursing homes are meant to be short-term and restorative. There are approximately 1,650,000 individuals currently living in nursing homes in the United States. Most of this individuals, approximately 91%i are over 65 years old (p. 1). Below is a chart from the 2005 Statistical Abstract of the United States giving the breakdown of ages for the extended care population.



Continue to Part 2 - Ageism and Cousin Elizabeth - My Experience

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This is part one of a series on Ageism. The next installments will look at my experience and settings - Ageism and Cousin Elizabeth - My Experience and Ageism and Cousin Elizabeth - Do You Want to Be Here?.