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[quote=Anonymous]I can speak only from my experience as a caregiver who has worked in a range of facilities from assisted living to higher level care nursing homes over the last seven years I’ve been working as a nurses aide post-legal career.

I have seen luxury AL in Newton-Wellesley Massachusetts and podunk little nursing homes in rural areas of my state. So from the best to the worst. And I’ve also cared for many people in the home where they were aging in place.

People’s fears about going into a facility are much like the fears of parents who obsess over the safety of their children and the potential of them being abducted by a stranger. Yes mistreatment happens in facilities, but it is rare that there are very serious cases. Most ‘mistreatment’ is the unintended consequence of understaffed facilities where sometimes just because of the aide to patient ratio sometimes patients have to sit in a wet diaper for a while. I’m not saying it isn’t less than ideal, but so is nearly all home care. I have seen people being treated so poorly in the home - even in upper middle class homes - that I had to make anonymous report to adult protective services asking for an elder abuse assessment.

We don’t take real good care of kids and elders in this society. Most people have to choose between flawed options. Things should be better but we keep spending money on weapons of mass destruction more than on our people. Someday maybe that will change. In the meantime I think most facilities are decent places with mostly decent staff and the important thing is to make sure you have an advocate who will visit you and look out for you wherever you choose to age unto death.[/quote]

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