Has Caring For Our Infirm Senior citizens Become a Racket?

ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS was in perfect health until he approached the age of seventy, a cattle rancher with a home in town, a solid work history, and a strong portfolio of investments. Happy and successful. Then, Parkinson's disease struck. At first, there was the shaking of the hands. Then, his body began to twist like a pretzel, he lost the ability to stand and walk, and ended up in a nursing home. It all seemed to happen so fast that it was truly shocking. This was accompanied by dementia, which often happens in older Parkinson's patients. Visiting him is extremely depressing, as doubtless many of you can imagine, those of you who have had similar experiences. Your first inclination is to run and hide, but then you learn to be patient, to listen closely and respond cheerfully, and to agree with everything they say. My friend talks about "getting out of here, and getting back to work." His psychologist says that accepting all his comments without comment is best. He'll die in the institution, the sooner the better. Better that he would die at home, but he requires twenty four seven care, preferably by professionals. In our culture, helping a loved one use the toilet or bathe is too personal; best it be done by strangers. Seems like every time I tell someone in the know about my friend, their first remark is: "nursing homes are a racket". Are they? In my neck of the woods, any nursing home is three to five thousand dollars a month, minimum. They, at least the one my friend is in, is crowded, impersonal, with scores of elderly and severely ill sitting in the hallways in wheelchairs, with nothing much to do. and this is regarded as a good one, which it really seems to be, from all I've heard. Plenty of employees, who seem to be on the ball. Clean, efficient...but somehow...so sad, so impersonal. What is the profit margin of a nursing home in America? they're all run for profit, right? People who get into the elder care business do so not only because they wish to serve the community, but because they wish to turn a profit, am I right? Is it possible that free market nursing homes are not the answer? Or perhaps it is; after all, soon enough, there will be enough of us needing constant care that the market will be wide open, and their should be plenty of competition among providers, enough to keep the prices reasonable, correct? I don't know much, but I know this: in the future, with an aging planet, hundreds of millions of people will need to be constantly cared for, or put to sleep like unwanted animals. In order to afford this, society as a whole will have to make adjustments. resources will have to be reallocated. Most people needing this care will be unable to afford it. In the United States, due to public demand, fewer and fewer dogs and cats are being killed because nobody wants them We are doing more spaying and neutering, and are working harder to find homes. we are becoming more enlightened and compassionate in our treatment of dogs and cats. A friend of mine from China once said to me: "you Americans are the loneliest people in the world. You care more about your dogs and cats than you do each other!" I could only agree. In America, and around the world, the aging of humanity is a looming crises, and in America, you just get the feeling that we have not yet found a good way to come to terms with it. Soon, that must change.