4 ms·

The reality of elder care is that (especially) infirm old folks really need a lot of hard, difficult, unpleasant care that our economic system has made basicall

The reality of elder care is that (especially) infirm old folks really need a lot of hard, difficult, unpleasant care that our economic system has made basically impossible for their children and extended families to perform, as would have probably been done in the past. This requirement isn’t going to go away. There will be no cheap, safe, efficient butt-wiping robot, and unmotivated, uninvolved third parties are going to keep doing lousy jobs and getting old folks hurt. Technology is not going to make much of a dent in this one.

octopoc 2y ago
This is true for most cases. However in my family we have special circumstances: because my grandfather is a veteran, my father is paid to take care of him. It is an absolutely phenomenal experience for our family and has brought us all together. If we could enable this again for everyone that would be good for everyone in terms of mental health.
- binary132 2y ago
  I think it would be great if states offered support to people who were willing to be caregivers to their elders and children. These are essential roles that cannot really be replaced.
- antiatheist 2y ago
  This is available to anyone in Australia, although ~$500-600 a week isn't enough to support the carer and the one they care for in most personal circumstances. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/carer-payment https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/carer-payment
  - mettamage 2y ago
    Same in NL, I don't know about the pay though.
  - blackbaze 2y ago
    Minimum wage by contrast is $915 a week
shrimp_emoji 2y ago
> care that our economic system has made basically impossible for their children and extended families to perform I don't wanna take care of my parents; I blame society. I don't wanna have kids; I blame society. We really can't keep letting society get away with all this.
- llamaimperative 2y ago
  This is just a snarky way of saying “incentives drive behavior” which, of course, is actually true and when incentives yield bad outcomes we should interrogate the system that produces them.
- bzmrgonz 2y ago
  Establish UBI and then we can blame families for not wanting to care for their elders, but until capitalism demands dual-income to sustain the nuclear family... we can't unfold that blame blanket you're proposing.
- silverquiet 2y ago
  I can’t have kids; I’m single.
  - malfist 2y ago
    Not with that attitude you won't.
- binary132 2y ago
  The reality is that right now, most people need to work full-time-plus just to get by. My wife and I have a bunch of kids. We are also the only ones who will be meaningfully sorting out care for our parents. I am fortunate to be able to provide enough support to make it work. I also don’t feel confident that when we’re also responsible for caring for all four of our parents, there’s going to be enough of our time and energy to manage it along with my work, especially if there are more little ones or medical issues at that time. It’s important to be realistic. And again, I’m an outlier. Most people have fewer resources to devote to it.
- 2y ago
hiAndrewQuinn 2y ago
Perhaps I'm missing something here. Why wouldn't an elderly care home invest in such a robot, considering this is one of the most common and time consuming tasks their orderlies need to perform on a daily basis? It seems like it would free up a lot of bandwidth to take in yet more elderly folks, which would be more profit to the care home.
ensocode 2y ago
This, on the other hand also younger people are getting old. Future old people might be much more tech-averse
bigbassroller 2y ago
Just brand a bidit with a lifting mechanisms
RecycledEle 2y ago
The butt wiping robot may be called a bidet combined with air drying.
- nopmat 2y ago
  Or have a self-cleaning, self-sanitized shower van with lifts and adaptive equipment make the rounds like an ice-cream truck.
malfist 2y ago
> Technology is not going to make much of a dent in this one. I'm sure people said the same thing many times before. Agriculture is probably a good example of it, even if you ignore anything before modern times. Do you think after we developed tractors that we would have went on to make automated tractors that run by GPS and can plant, weed and harvest? Technology can, and does, solve hard problems.

octopoc 2y ago

This is true for most cases. However in my family we have special circumstances: because my grandfather is a veteran, my father is paid to take care of him. It is an absolutely phenomenal experience for our family and has brought us all together. If we could enable this again for everyone that would be good for everyone in terms of mental health.

binary132 2y ago
I think it would be great if states offered support to people who were willing to be caregivers to their elders and children. These are essential roles that cannot really be replaced.
antiatheist 2y ago
This is available to anyone in Australia, although ~$500-600 a week isn't enough to support the carer and the one they care for in most personal circumstances. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/carer-payment https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/carer-payment
- mettamage 2y ago
  Same in NL, I don't know about the pay though.
- blackbaze 2y ago
  Minimum wage by contrast is $915 a week

shrimp_emoji 2y ago

> care that our economic system has made basically impossible for their children and extended families to perform I don't wanna take care of my parents; I blame society. I don't wanna have kids; I blame society. We really can't keep letting society get away with all this.

llamaimperative 2y ago
This is just a snarky way of saying “incentives drive behavior” which, of course, is actually true and when incentives yield bad outcomes we should interrogate the system that produces them.
bzmrgonz 2y ago
Establish UBI and then we can blame families for not wanting to care for their elders, but until capitalism demands dual-income to sustain the nuclear family... we can't unfold that blame blanket you're proposing.
silverquiet 2y ago
I can’t have kids; I’m single.
- malfist 2y ago
  Not with that attitude you won't.
binary132 2y ago
The reality is that right now, most people need to work full-time-plus just to get by. My wife and I have a bunch of kids. We are also the only ones who will be meaningfully sorting out care for our parents. I am fortunate to be able to provide enough support to make it work. I also don’t feel confident that when we’re also responsible for caring for all four of our parents, there’s going to be enough of our time and energy to manage it along with my work, especially if there are more little ones or medical issues at that time. It’s important to be realistic. And again, I’m an outlier. Most people have fewer resources to devote to it.
2y ago

hiAndrewQuinn 2y ago

Perhaps I'm missing something here. Why wouldn't an elderly care home invest in such a robot, considering this is one of the most common and time consuming tasks their orderlies need to perform on a daily basis? It seems like it would free up a lot of bandwidth to take in yet more elderly folks, which would be more profit to the care home.

ensocode 2y ago

This, on the other hand also younger people are getting old. Future old people might be much more tech-averse

bigbassroller 2y ago

Just brand a bidit with a lifting mechanisms

RecycledEle 2y ago

The butt wiping robot may be called a bidet combined with air drying.

nopmat 2y ago
Or have a self-cleaning, self-sanitized shower van with lifts and adaptive equipment make the rounds like an ice-cream truck.

malfist 2y ago

> Technology is not going to make much of a dent in this one. I'm sure people said the same thing many times before. Agriculture is probably a good example of it, even if you ignore anything before modern times. Do you think after we developed tractors that we would have went on to make automated tractors that run by GPS and can plant, weed and harvest? Technology can, and does, solve hard problems.