alternative care for elderly

[Margaret Pilkington]

Skuta it is very sad that your experience of ‘care’ have been so poor.
I have said throughout this thread, the only way to get a good carer is by educating them, by ensuring that personal bonds are formed....this means that the carer feels empathy for their charge, and they have a personal investment in ensuring that good care is delivered.

You have to get the carer to deliver the kind of care that they would want for their grandma, or grandpa....and to be honest, this is not encouraged because it is not conducive to making a profit.
Those who go into the social care field, are(and I know this is a huge generalisation) in it purely to make money.
They have no real desire for anything else.
So those being looked after(in the loosest sense of that word) get someone different every day coming in for twenty minutes...in that time they are expected to deal with personal care needs, food and maybe medication....and document what has been done. How can any bond of empathy or caring be formed in such a situation..?

The answer is...it can’t
That is an impossible task.

I spent my working life in the caring professions.
I have been retired for 19 years, but during that time I have cared for at least six dependent people...five of them elderly infirm....I know it is a thing that cannot be rushed or have time constraints placed on it.

[Margaret Pilkington]

If I ever came into a lot of money I would do some good with it....
I would set up a ‘not for profit Care agency’....it would care for the elderly in their own homes.
It would concentrate on giving those being looked after the care that they decided they needed.
I would choose those who worked with the elderly very carefully...making sure that there was a continuing carer.....they would be educating in caring.....and they would be paid accordingly.
I would also set up lunch clubs....and a social club for the elderly......so many older people have very little social contact.
Their circle shrinks and they have no way of expanding it.
I would also investigate possibilities of live in carers....again, not for profit, but for the comfort of the older people in our communities.
So a big lotto win would do it....until then it is just a pipe dream.
I like older people....maybe that is because I am one.