Everyone gets older, even though nobody wants to admit it. Now that I’m older, I can explain why older people can be so intimidating to younger people. The recent Aged Care Royal Commission has made this subject newsworthy in Australia. If the necessity arises, I fear that I will only be subjected to a small portion of what was exposed as a result of the treatment of such persons in nursing homes and other places.
The most vulnerable residents of these facilities are sometimes beaten, malnourished, refused medical care, and generally abused as a source of profit for their proprietors. Should anyone thus be made to endure that?
The issue is made worse by a lack of adequate and untrained workers. These venues run on limited budgets and with minimal overhead due to their profitability. While many receive government subsidies, they just collect and pocket the funds without enhancing services.
Should elderly people be allowed to stay in their own homes with better and more sufficient support? This is the subject that is currently being debated. That would entail providing workers to carry out necessary staff to aid in their adjustment to the situation.
Many elderly persons experience severe sadness and are afraid to interact with others or take greater responsibility for themselves. Governments frequently commit mistakes in this area because of the limitations imposed on pension recipients.
If a recipient of Social Security benefits earns money or tries to engage in activities that might put them in danger of losing their benefits, severe repercussions result. People are deprived of their independence and freedom to act in ways that might boost their self-esteem and coping skills.
If governments choose to provide more in-house and assisted care, they will be faced with enormous financial obligations. Billions of dollars will be involved in total. The issue then becomes how to support senior citizens in maintaining their independence by enabling them to continue receiving their pension while working well into old life.
Because of the money flow that is currently being denied to it, the outcome may be a far healthier economy. By placing severe limits on the elderly, the government makes them feel like useless dependents who are despised by the majority of society. By simply enabling people to continue functioning rather than putting them away in institutions where their only means of escape is death, the solution may be far simpler than currently thought.
