6 ms·
I have seen the dystopian future of elderly care
- thunderbong 5mo agohttps://archive.is/PSPZz https://archive.is/PSPZz
- mrlonglong 5mo agoPlease stop paying any attention to the Torygraph / Reformgraph. It used to be good decades ago but now it just spews propaganda nowadays.
- mrlonglong 5mo agoReally? Downvoted for speaking the truth? https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/opinion/daily-telegraph-disinformation-check/ https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/opinion/daily-telegraph-dis...
- Apreche 5mo ago[flagged]
- mindslight 5mo agoIs this headline a humblebrag about being able to afford a plane ticket to the US? Eldercare has been quite dystopian here for quite some time. You don't need robots to be dystopian, rather just the casual indifference of a paperclip-maximizing bureaucracy. I can't read the full article, but it seems like these robots at least move around and interact rather than merely being an automated process that automatically checks off boxes like "patient turned" and "bed cleaned". So they would appear to be a step up from the current absurd staffing ratios.
- analog8374 5mo agoFacebook can do a pretty good necro-avatar. That's better than flesh. Cheaper than a retirement home too. https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-granted-patent-for-ai-llm-bot-dead-paused-accounts-2026-2 https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-granted-patent-for-ai-l...
- KaiserPro 5mo agoI'm assuming that they've not been to a "normal" UK carehome now. Its staffed with minimum wage workers who are in perilous conditions, with no support, time or backup. They are cleaning shit a piss all day long, and being shouted at for being foreign by the demented.
- chaostheory 5mo agoI feel that this is the case in most developed countries unless you can afford to pay $10,000 - $20,000 per month for an upscale nursing home. Robots might make it a little less terrible.
- KaiserPro 5mo agoI am somewhat sympathetic to this view. I know its not popular. But, given the deficiency of the UK to actually grasp the nettle of adult social care, this is probably what we'll get. A better way, perhaps is better integration of care in the community, as in old people mixed in and around young. (safeguarding issue need to be solved though)
- helterskelter 5mo agoNot much different than the US, really. I had to hire some at-home care for a relative with brain cancer, and almost all of them were drunk on the job, falling asleep when they were supposed to be monitoring at night, or getting offended at something their patient said, who's mental state resembles that of a psychotic 8 year old. Oh and if you don't lock shit up, some of them will steal. At a certain point, you fire so many there aren't any left in the area. I moved my relative to another area for unrelated reasons, but it was the same story at the new place too. There were a few really good ones tbh, but 95% were in private care because nobody else would hire them.
- mindslight 5mo agoDid you go through an agency or a private hire? I took care of my dad in his final months during Covid. The hospital gave him Covid and then forcibly discharged him, so none of the agencies wanted to deal with him. I was able to find someone who wanted direct work and who was not daunted by the 'rona. They were fantastic. But of course one person can't do every day or around the clock care. I had another great mother+daughter+third care team lined up for when it was time to ramp up even more (they had taken care of my uncle), but (un)fortunately I never got quite there.
- BoredPositron 5mo agoGive me the freedom to end my life when I want to end it and you don't have to care about my care and I bet I am not the only one.
- nradov 5mo agoSure, but a lot of those elderly people have some significant degree of dementia. That make it difficult to go out on your own terms.
- kakacik 5mo agoThis can be covered in advance, when you can set what to do with your organs after death, or whether to resuscitate you or not and so on, it can be done for this scenario. In advanced societies of course, but we have few and unfortunate people travel from far and wide to reach those services.
- ndarray 5mo agoThere's a long period between beginning and full, diagnosed dementia. You won't be able to tell what you're signing but you won't be protected by a dementia diagnosis either.
- chasil 5mo agoCan you guarantee that you will feel the same as your mobility becomes more and more restricted? Do you think that your current resolve is correct for everyone around you, and should be generally mandated? I agree to a reluctance to rely upon others, in the face of infirmity, but will I have the courage to forego that reliance in euthasia? I don't know.
- joefourier 5mo agoPersonally I feel like it would be less undignified and infantilising to have a machine take care of my basic bodily functions than a human being. There's no feeling of judgement or being shamed in front of someone else, and the machine could even restore a feeling of autonomy since it would feel like you're using a tool instead of being helplessly reliant on another person's help.
- jolmg 5mo agoMore likely than not, a human would be remote controlling it, at least at times. So, they're there, you just can't see them seeing you. I think this is more of a cultural problem. Aging is a normal part of life.
- aaron695 5mo ago[dead]
- squishington 5mo agoRelevant article from the latest Arena quarterly in Australia: https://arena.org.au/private-equity-public-pain/ https://arena.org.au/private-equity-public-pain/
- general1465 5mo agoToo many elders, not enough younger people to take care for them. This is unfortunate byproduct of healthcare getting too good to keep the body running while mind is long gone. There is absolutely no point nor sense for young to sacrifice for old. Leave these shells to their own devices and problem will sort itself out.
- jaspanglia 5mo ago[flagged]