| presents excerpts from |
ISBN 0-9778140-0-9
318 pages, 68 photographs.
318 pages, 68 photographs.
 |
....Nursing homes are a subject that strikes dread or terror
in the hearts of many millions of Americans, and with
some justification. A feeling of total abandonment is the
first perception, and then it just goes downhill from there.
The older a person is, the stronger the apprehension of
those facilities; one reason for that is the frightening history
of the nursing home institution in America.
Before probing the subject of old age homes, I should
mention that they are a much-needed institution in our
current social structure. Without such facilities to take in
the elderly disabled who have insufficient financial or
human resources to care for themselves at home, our
streets would be paved with elderly, disabled people. When
I reached the point where it was impossible to take care of
Mother any longer at home, she and I would have been in
serious trouble without a facility to turn to. If a patient lives
long enough, most every AD caregiver will face that painful
action of having to release their care recipient to the care of
someone else.
Considering Some Old Age Institutions
Before nursing homes, an older such institution in America
was the “poor farm.” The poor farm was for old people
who had neither the family nor the financial means to
survive on their own. At one point, it was also a dumping
ground for orphans, widows, alcoholics, the mentally ill,
and abandoned wives and children. When that institution
took all the above groups, it may have gone by other names
as well (e.g., the poor home, the county home, county farm,
the almshouse).
Bernice would have learned about the poor farm from
Grandma Pet or her mother, and that would have been the
Whiteside, Illinois, poor farm at Round Grove Village,
about 20 miles from Tampico. That’s the poor farm that
Ronald Reagan would also have heard about as a child
since he lived in Tampico; I’m sure the reports affected
him as they did my mother and anyone else who was
warned about the possibility of ending up there. In those
days of zero social safety net, prospects could change
overnight with the loss of the family breadwinner, and
people had to be aware of serious potential disaster.
I don’t remember entering any nursing homes as a child. I
don’t believe there were any as we conceive of them now.
There were “homes for the aged....”
in the hearts of many millions of Americans, and with
some justification. A feeling of total abandonment is the
first perception, and then it just goes downhill from there.
The older a person is, the stronger the apprehension of
those facilities; one reason for that is the frightening history
of the nursing home institution in America.
Before probing the subject of old age homes, I should
mention that they are a much-needed institution in our
current social structure. Without such facilities to take in
the elderly disabled who have insufficient financial or
human resources to care for themselves at home, our
streets would be paved with elderly, disabled people. When
I reached the point where it was impossible to take care of
Mother any longer at home, she and I would have been in
serious trouble without a facility to turn to. If a patient lives
long enough, most every AD caregiver will face that painful
action of having to release their care recipient to the care of
someone else.
Considering Some Old Age Institutions
Before nursing homes, an older such institution in America
was the “poor farm.” The poor farm was for old people
who had neither the family nor the financial means to
survive on their own. At one point, it was also a dumping
ground for orphans, widows, alcoholics, the mentally ill,
and abandoned wives and children. When that institution
took all the above groups, it may have gone by other names
as well (e.g., the poor home, the county home, county farm,
the almshouse).
Bernice would have learned about the poor farm from
Grandma Pet or her mother, and that would have been the
Whiteside, Illinois, poor farm at Round Grove Village,
about 20 miles from Tampico. That’s the poor farm that
Ronald Reagan would also have heard about as a child
since he lived in Tampico; I’m sure the reports affected
him as they did my mother and anyone else who was
warned about the possibility of ending up there. In those
days of zero social safety net, prospects could change
overnight with the loss of the family breadwinner, and
people had to be aware of serious potential disaster.
I don’t remember entering any nursing homes as a child. I
don’t believe there were any as we conceive of them now.
There were “homes for the aged....”
Copyright ©2006 Heydon Buchanan. All Rights Reserved.
| CHAPTER 8 NURSING HOMES— A MODERN, SAD REALITY |
Over the hill to the poor-house—my child’rn dear, good-bye!
Many a night I’ve watched you when only God was nigh;
And God’ll judge between us; but I will al’ays pray
That you shall never suffer the half that I do to-day!
—Will Carlton, "Over the Hill to the Poor-House," 1867
Many a night I’ve watched you when only God was nigh;
And God’ll judge between us; but I will al’ays pray
That you shall never suffer the half that I do to-day!
—Will Carlton, "Over the Hill to the Poor-House," 1867