Thank you so much for this well documented article. I have been seeing all of this unfolding, and as a senior citizen who is caring for another senior (victim of Covid) it is taking a toll. My disabilities are getting worse, and my insurance plus Medicare doesn't cover the needed operations I should have - despite the $185 premium I pay through Social Security. I don't know how much longer I can take care of him because I have trouble taking care of myself. I get paid $13.85 an hour for 3 hours per day/7 days a week. I am on call 24/7, and three hours is nowhere near enough time for all the things I have to do. Luckily we have a house, although not paid off yet, and my daughter and her sons live with us to help pick up the slack. How many don't have that much help? This is a system that really is against the aging, yet doesn't understand how much we have to give.
Another well-thought-out, well-written series, Marie! Thank you. TLawrence, I'm so incredibly empathetic towards your plight. It takes a village... not just to properly raise a child, but also to care for the aging and the sick. I share the sentiments of "What Elder Liberation Looks Like." There should be total neighborhood participation with rolling barbecues and potlucks; with groups designated to splinter off each day to take plates to and check on the well-being of those who are unable to go out or cook for themselves. Of course, this would be supplemental to the day-to-day care given by core family members and home healthcare professionals. No one financially profits. The costs are shared and subsidized. It's just what we do to serve and live on our street. WoW! What a pipe dream! This kind of community should be the norm, but it isn't. ... We need to fix this. You wrote, "Without massive investment and cultural shift, today’s crisis will become tomorrow’s collapse." I believe this shift has to begin with our concept of wealth and it must include a return to Rites of Passage for our youth. Wealth cannot be determined by how much we have and hoard. Wealth and celebrity status must be based on how much we contribute to the well-being of our families and our communities. When someone builds a $200,000 house for themselves, for instance, they're considered a success because they built 10 more just like it for the homeless. ... Who would do such a thing?! What would incentivize such altruism? Exactly my point.
Yes, we must fundamentally change our relationship with wealth. And that may be a long battle, especially with who holds the power because of their wealth
That’s incredibly well-defined. I would add one thing, from my perspective as a disabled 63 year old: in conversation with one of my kids last winter (she’s 27), I spoke about “filial piety,” in the context of “what’s going to happen to me when/if I can’t live alone?” She replied, “I know SOME cultures believe in that.” It was a bit scary to think that this ethical principle may no longer apply in the thinking of young Americans now.
I’ve actually moved abroad, where health care is not a privilege, but is an expectation built into the social system.
I’ll be 84 this year. My husband and I are responsible for the care of my brother in law who has Down Syndrome and is in his 60s. We have enough money right now and so far our health is manageable, but we don’t dare think too hard about the future. This article is not encouraging.
The last couple of years of my grandfather's life, he had dementia. My grandmother had passed years before and it fell to my mom and her sisters to figure out how to care for him in those years. He had Midicare and no longer term care option outside of the family.
Before my grandmother passed, she had told my grandfather to take care of the house. He had built that house himself back in the late 50's and early 60's and I remember it being so full of love when I was growing up. He took her request very seriously and, even through the dementia, he refused to leave up until he passed.
My mom and her three sisters got together and formulated a plan. Each of them lived at least 60 miles away. Each of them would go stay with him for a week at a time to make sure he wouldn't have to leave the home. It was a sacrifice, but Each of them did it. That is just how it had to be.
Thank you so much for this well documented article. I have been seeing all of this unfolding, and as a senior citizen who is caring for another senior (victim of Covid) it is taking a toll. My disabilities are getting worse, and my insurance plus Medicare doesn't cover the needed operations I should have - despite the $185 premium I pay through Social Security. I don't know how much longer I can take care of him because I have trouble taking care of myself. I get paid $13.85 an hour for 3 hours per day/7 days a week. I am on call 24/7, and three hours is nowhere near enough time for all the things I have to do. Luckily we have a house, although not paid off yet, and my daughter and her sons live with us to help pick up the slack. How many don't have that much help? This is a system that really is against the aging, yet doesn't understand how much we have to give.
Another well-thought-out, well-written series, Marie! Thank you. TLawrence, I'm so incredibly empathetic towards your plight. It takes a village... not just to properly raise a child, but also to care for the aging and the sick. I share the sentiments of "What Elder Liberation Looks Like." There should be total neighborhood participation with rolling barbecues and potlucks; with groups designated to splinter off each day to take plates to and check on the well-being of those who are unable to go out or cook for themselves. Of course, this would be supplemental to the day-to-day care given by core family members and home healthcare professionals. No one financially profits. The costs are shared and subsidized. It's just what we do to serve and live on our street. WoW! What a pipe dream! This kind of community should be the norm, but it isn't. ... We need to fix this. You wrote, "Without massive investment and cultural shift, today’s crisis will become tomorrow’s collapse." I believe this shift has to begin with our concept of wealth and it must include a return to Rites of Passage for our youth. Wealth cannot be determined by how much we have and hoard. Wealth and celebrity status must be based on how much we contribute to the well-being of our families and our communities. When someone builds a $200,000 house for themselves, for instance, they're considered a success because they built 10 more just like it for the homeless. ... Who would do such a thing?! What would incentivize such altruism? Exactly my point.
Yes, we must fundamentally change our relationship with wealth. And that may be a long battle, especially with who holds the power because of their wealth
That’s incredibly well-defined. I would add one thing, from my perspective as a disabled 63 year old: in conversation with one of my kids last winter (she’s 27), I spoke about “filial piety,” in the context of “what’s going to happen to me when/if I can’t live alone?” She replied, “I know SOME cultures believe in that.” It was a bit scary to think that this ethical principle may no longer apply in the thinking of young Americans now.
I’ve actually moved abroad, where health care is not a privilege, but is an expectation built into the social system.
I hate to admit it, but after working in home health treating aging populations in private homes and assisted living facilities..
I have concluded that I will have a DNR at 60 and hope I die young.
I’ll be 84 this year. My husband and I are responsible for the care of my brother in law who has Down Syndrome and is in his 60s. We have enough money right now and so far our health is manageable, but we don’t dare think too hard about the future. This article is not encouraging.
Another great article.
The last couple of years of my grandfather's life, he had dementia. My grandmother had passed years before and it fell to my mom and her sisters to figure out how to care for him in those years. He had Midicare and no longer term care option outside of the family.
Before my grandmother passed, she had told my grandfather to take care of the house. He had built that house himself back in the late 50's and early 60's and I remember it being so full of love when I was growing up. He took her request very seriously and, even through the dementia, he refused to leave up until he passed.
My mom and her three sisters got together and formulated a plan. Each of them lived at least 60 miles away. Each of them would go stay with him for a week at a time to make sure he wouldn't have to leave the home. It was a sacrifice, but Each of them did it. That is just how it had to be.