What to Do with the Elderly?

Aging is inevitable. Hearing the phrase, “When I get old, you’ll leave me in a home somewhere” from your loved ones starts as a laughing matter, but slowly becomes reality, as it has become mine. My grandmother is one of 47.5 million people worldwide that suffer from dementia (Hillis, 2016). As her symptoms become worse, my family feels torn apart, since we are unable to provide her with the vital around-the-clock attention she needs. In an effort to prioritize her care and alleviate the strain this situation has put on my family, my father had talked about possible solutions with his siblings, however, they have different viewpoints on what the best solution may be.

Family caregivers of people with dementia, often called the invisible second patients, are critical to the quality of life of the care recipients. The effects of being a family caregiver, though sometimes positive, are generally negative, with high rates of burden and psychological morbidity as well as social isolation, physical ill-health, and financial hardship (Brodaty, Donkin, 2009).

Dr. Brodaty and Dr. Donkin, members of the Academic Department of Old Aged Psychiatry, identify the psychological strains family caregivers and members of the “sandwich” generation endure. These caregivers not only sacrifice their time at work, but also their social lives and mental health due to caring being a demanding task. Additionally, since family caregivers usually do not have a background in nursing, it becomes difficult to attend to a loved ones’ needs when the treatments they require to heal are outside their area of expertise. These issues are why my immediate family, including a handful of my father’s siblings, believe the best option for grandmother’s health is to bring her to a home where professionally trained people can administer her proper care.

To conclude, someone so deserving as my grandmother deserves to have the utmost care, yet neither keeping her at home, nor bringing her to a nursing facility fit the bill. Despite the Internet’s easy accessibility, a majority of society, including my own family, have only recently discovered the necessary resources to help cope with the major responsibilities that come with caring for a loved one. Overall, our society needs more support for elderly folks and their caregivers alike. Besides, we will all become old one day — why not strengthen these support organizations and increase resource accessibility now?

Works Cited

Andela, Marie, et al. “Journal of Interpersonal Violence.” Sage Journals, 19 Oct. 2018, journals-sagepub-com.jpllnet.sfsu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/0886260518803606.

Hillis, Krista. “Dementia Statistics — U.S. & Worldwide Stats.” BrainTest, 5 May 2016, braintest.com/dementia-stats-u-s-worldwide/.

Steenhausen, Paul. “Meeting Workforce Demand for Certified Nursing Assistants in Skilled Nursing Facilities.” The 2018–19 Budget: Meeting Workforce Demand for Certified Nursing Assistants in Skilled Nursing Facilities, 27 Apr. 2018, lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3815.

Zhao, Xia, et al. “Loneliness and depression symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes: A moderated mediation model of resilience and social support” Psychiatry Research, Volume 268,

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