A Matter of Time

As most people age, they are reluctant to consider how they will live when diminishing health begins to overwhelm their lives. The older a person becomes, it is less likely that he or she will pursue assistance. At a feeble age, the elderly become vulnerable to injury, neglect, and senseless loss of life. Some families are able to care for their aged parent or relative at home, but many families simply cannot provide proper care. For example, the home of a middle-aged couple that has children and both parents work may not be suitable for a needy senior. The most capable environment for a disabled senior citizen is an assisted living center. The decision to make a move like this is oftentimes put off; then the elderly are moved to a nursing home only after an incident of severe illness or injury occurs. Serious injuries can be avoided if the elderly are moved to a nursing facility before they become susceptible to accidents.

Not all senior citizens need assisted living. There are some older people that are generally in good health. Some may simply need help from a neighbor or friend to bring groceries home, to be taken to a doctor’s appointment, or to clean the house. Living in a private home may be sufficient for someone that can get around the house as long as he or she has access to communication, in case help is needed.
Those with failing health struggle at home and jeopardize their safety. Falling down results in severe injury and sometimes death. According to statistics gathered by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the year 2006, there were 2,125,635 “unintentional falls” reported from seniors aged sixty and over. Of those reported, 17,448 resulted in death. An aged person’s health typically degenerates after a fall, making this one more reason to set up assisted living sooner.

The elderly that need more serious help can be divided into two basic categories: immobility and loss of mentality. Many are burdened with both. The elderly are at high risk for falling. For example, my eighty-five year old father recently fell down in his bathroom. My stepmother, who has health issues of her own, couldn’t help him get up. Any fall for an aged person can be critical. He spent a week in the hospital, but the doctors wouldn’t let him leave until assisted living arrangements were made. He was moved into a nursing home. My father had trouble with his feet and ankles for several years prior to this fall. In 2007, I spoke to him about selling their house and moving into an assisted living center together. That would have been the ideal time to move, before mobility became a serious problem. My dad was not interested in giving up his home and didn’t want to discuss it further. Now he is forced to live at the nursing home without his wife.

In 2006, I helped my eighty-year-old aunt who was inflicted with Scleroderma--a disease that affects the skin and connective tissues. She also refused to leave her house for an assisted living facility. She lived by herself at the time. When I went to visit her, I found stacks of mail on her kitchen table that had never been opened. I sat down with her, one evening, to go through it. We found several unpaid accounts, including a third-month, past-due notice from the electric company. Because her mental capacity was diminishing, she was determined not to pay the bill. I was able to convince her to sign a check that day, but realized she was not capable of handling her own finances. I made arrangements for caregivers to stay with her twenty-four hours a day. My father was paying the ladies out of my aunt’s checking account. She convinced my dad that she could take care of it herself. The next time I went to visit her and check her accounts, I discovered that she double-paid two of the ladies on two different occasions. My aunt was a subscriber to First Alert, a company that provides emergency response service for the elderly. If anything were to happen to her while she was alone, she was supposed to press the pager that hung on a ribbon around her neck and the service provider would dispatch help appropriately. She fell down one day while she was alone. She waited on the floor (in the hallway) for six hours until the evening caregiver arrived. She didn’t have the awareness to think about the pager. None of these things would have happened if we had just made arrangements for her to move to a nursing home sooner.

For any senior citizen, prescription medications are a fact of life. While visiting my aunt in 2007, I found that a prescription for a blood thinner had not been filled for over a month prior to her fall. In my father’s case, he had seen two different doctors that prescribed the same blood pressure medicine. He had been taking both dosages for ten days when I checked his prescriptions. At that age, our elders just aren’t able to keep track. Even if they don’t necessarily have to be moved to a home, someone should be monitoring their medication(s).

Growing old is inevitable. At the same time, we face unavoidable health issues. We know we’re going to get there, but we keep holding on tight to every thread of independence for every precious moment we can. When my aunt failed to summon First Alert, she may have thought she was protecting herself from alerting the family to her vulnerabilities. When my father ended our discussion about assisted living, I thought he was stubborn. He may very well be stubborn. What is it called when an old man who lived tough and proud all his life is confined to a bed, a wheel chair, and a TV room? My aunt passed away in May of 2007. My father is living in a place that keeps him safe, makes sure he eats, and gives him his medicine; but now he lives apart from his friend--his wife. She visits him most every day and he wonders if she is there to take him home. In time, he will get accustomed to his new lifestyle. It’s just a matter of time.

Works Cited:
CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics - WISQARSTM (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System), page updated March 4, 2010. Web. Apr. 28, 2010.