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One of the most disgusting parts of western culture is how they relegate their old to these nursing homes.
by wizwit999 5y ago
One of the most disgusting parts of western culture is how they relegate their old to these nursing homes.
- CincinnatiMan 5y agoWhat do other cultures do for people who can no longer take care of themselves?
- garmaine 5y agoLive in multi-generational family units where the family shares responsibility for (and benefits from) their own elders.
- fires10 5y agoI wonder about the generational demographics of different cultures and how that impacts things. Many western cultures have fewer children to bear the burden of taking care of the elderly. The populations are shrinking for native born.
- Ekaros 5y agoAlso people tend to live lot longer and specially lot longer with limited capabilities. So there is more of those needing support and lot more support needed.
- pempem 5y agoIt'd be remiss to not note most of the time in culture where multi generational family units are the norm, responsibility lands on women in the home or household support in extended families and the economy doesn't often require two incomes to be middle class.
- MattGaiser 5y agoIndeed. The household has a full time employee/manager there so to speak.
- cascom 5y agoThis. But would also add 1) live in socialist countries that provide home care, or 2) or live in countries where there is extremely cheap labor due to endemic poverty (much of the third world), low rates of labor participation, or imported labor (HK/Singapore/Gulf states)
- symlinkk 5y agoYou can do that in America. People don’t do it because they don’t want to. Would you enjoy living with your parents again?
- tyoma 5y agoThis is typically true for the elderly who can take care of themselves or require minimal help. Once you need round the clock dementia care, it is more than extended family can provide — unless one or more adults take themselves out of the workforce for years.
- WalterBright 5y agoNomadic tribes would simply leave them behind.
- slapfrog 5y agoOr the elderly would wander off on their own to die, after they perceived themselves to be a burden.
- Ekaros 5y agoAnd need to consider that elderly being able to wander off is still good state today. They could very well survive with relatively affordable assisted living. But in some cases we are keeping people alive who can't even walk anymore.
- MattGaiser 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senicide
- fires10 5y agoA lot of this has to do with a lack of resources. There isn't enough labor available at home to take of the elderly most of the time and the ones in a home typically require extensive care. My father and mother in law both went to a nursing home because they couldn't perform basic daily activities.
- zozbot234 5y agoThe article points out that many nursing homes are just as understaffed though, that's why this practice is so widespread in the first place. If our elderly are going to be badly cared for either way, it might be best to keep them in a family environment where at least they won't be kept constantly on drugs.
- smabie 5y agoWestern countries don't have enough kids and strong enough family units (a bunch of relatives living in close proximity say), for this to work. I'm an only child and there's just no way I could have my parents live with me if they needed care. Moreover, the elderly in 3rd world countries tend not to live as long, many of the old people in Western countries are.. for the lack of a better word, living far past their expiration date.
- tyoma 5y agoThe patients in the article have dementia, which requires all day care, often by a professional. Where else would the elderly receive such care?
- MattGaiser 5y agoThe trade off is that then the old drag down the kids in terms of careers, where they can live, time that might be otherwise invested in children, etc. One side of my family is Chinese/Jamaican and the other White, so both cultural sets of values exist in my family and both sets of grandparents are worried about being a burden later on and while the polite thing to say is that they aren't, they genuinely are, especially if you don't have a lot of kids or they don't live nearby. My Chinese/Jamaican grandfather had to leave his mother behind in Jamaica to build a life here in Canada and she supported that decision as it meant breaking the cycle of poverty for good. None of her descendants (at least for a while) would own nothing but two old dining chairs.
- tester756 5y agodid you ever live with mentally ill old person? It may be incredibly hard to the point that it is even difficult to describe it
- colinmhayes 5y agoI find it pretty hard to see it that way. Most people aren't equipped to deal with the senile. Taking care of aging family members just causes stress for the caregivers and the old people can tell that they're a burden. Surrounding them with people in similar situations and trained caregivers plus the option to be drugged out of their misery seems like a much kinder thing to do.
- Clubber 5y ago>One of the most disgusting parts of western culture is how they relegate their old to these nursing homes. Most people can't afford it and last time I checked, Medicare doesn't cover it at all or not enough to make it affordable. Of course in the 80s and 90s, long term care was much more affordable and wasn't as, uh, let's call it, profit seeking.