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During this summer I had the opportunity of working in a nursing home, and for the first time in my life I think I found out what_it was real- 1y like to deal with old peo— ple. I discovered that they are just the same as you and me. They have the same ba- sic desires, needs, and wants and there is nothing old— fashioned about that! They are very frank, curious, and open about things~around them and are possibly more cynical about the troubled times We live in than you may think. '

For those of you who have never had any practical ex— perience with nursing homes, you are missing a real-life, three credit course on death and dying. Where I worked there were a hundred people - 90 female and 10 male ( Hey, fellahs, those womenfolk are outdistancing_us menfolk, so let's get together and plan our strategy{ ) The average routine for a day would be eat, sleep, excrete, and walk if you're lucky. During the course of the day, you may be put in your wheelchair, but if not, you are to be con- fined to the bed ( alone ).

here are several activities uring the week purposely prepared for group interac— tion, such as Bingo, movies, and Bible sessions, but that's about it. Oh, and if ou're lucky, you may have an occasional bi-weekly visit.

~-from a relative.

The majority of patients are able to walk and commun— icate reasonably well, but there aren't that many people working in the home to help fully satisfy both these needs. As a result, the pa- tients don't get to talk to anybody that often, nor do they get the excercise that they need to help keep the blood circulating, which is vital in order to maintain an alert mind. In regards to alleviating pain or making sure that patients go right to sleep, there is a steady diet of pills consumed by the patients, thus making them feel constantly drowsy and somewhat con fused .

In observinging and help- ing these men and women, I sensed mixed feelings of pes- simism, anxiety, hostility, alienation, not feeling want— ed, depression, as well as cheerfulness, humor, warmth, and optimism. I felt satis— fied that these people appre— ciated what I did for them: i.e. cleaned, showered, shaved, dressed, lifted, walked, cleaned up after, put to bed, got up out of bed, etc, but I felt very de-

‘pressed because I don't feel

people-are meant for such a mind blowing experience at the end of their long, hard lived lives. I was very dis- couraged and upset about the fact that we have to put liv— ing history books away in a

home. I agree that there should be some sort of accom— odations set up for elderly people who are physically disabled and who have no fam- ily or home, but why do we have to put those old people who are still productive, who still want to be with their families, who can still do everything you or I can do but at a slowere pace, away in a house.( not really a home! 5 where they vegitater and just wait to die! I could be wrong, but in the final analysis it seems that the real reson we put old folks in these desolate pla- ces is because we have no time to take care of them, they are in the way, they a burden to have around. Did you ever ask your— self what happened to the derly 40 or 50 years ago? Were they put in nursing homes? Why, nursing homes didn't even eXist then! The old died in the presence of their families with respect and dignity. We may ask our-

are

el—

- selves who is accountable for

neglecting the old. Can it be the same people who are responsible for neglecting alchoholics, suicidal cases, drug addicts, the poor, ect? I think that we, as a human race, are all responsible and accountable when it comes down to caring for people. We can all make time if we want to say "'I care." We

can no longer go through the _

The Cadre, Sept 16, 1975, page 3

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Wanted

superficial motions of " Hi, how are you? " beCause if we do, we are merely relating to others as robots, using the ' disguise of a role or a mask. We have to relate to each other as people— People Who have similar problems as well as the same basic needs and wants. If this could be done, we could call this world of our's home.

If we continue to remain passive and disinterested in establishing an environment where people feel that they are worth something, insec— urity, inferiority, uncer— tainty, alienation, and depr— ession will continue to overwhelm in our lives. We might as well get ready, because there will be a long waiting to get into those nursing homes. Let us there— fore get to know who we are as individuals, for once we gain our'own acceptance, we can go out of our way to make each other feel wanted. It is very hard to live without support, acceptance, care, respect, trust, and commun— ication. Whether we are rich or poor, fat or skinny, rad- icall liberal, or conservative, male or female, let us strive towards being open, honest, and sincere with one another so that our emotional app— etite may be fully nourished and not starved.

Art Laffin

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