Why do old folk go into aged care before it's necessary?
Some people need to be in aged care - but there are many who are there largely to please others. Picture: Shutterstock
Many of the old people in Australia's nursing homes, where they are at such high risk if the virus gets in, should not have been in any nursing home at all.
So why are they there?
Some were blocking beds in acute hospitals; some were a worry to their children; some were alone in the world; some had a catastrophic illness.
Too many old people are not safe by themselves - they might fall and not be able to rise, they might leave the refrigerator door open, they might burn the toast, they might set off the fire alarms, they might let bathtubs run over. Such people need to be in care.
But too many people are forced to go into residential care against their own wishes. Their transfer represents the wishes and decisions of the children or the hospital social workers, and not the wishes and decisions of the older person themself……………..
HI PHIL. good to see you back posting, hope you are well, also ZAPOT, did you manage to get your goodies, ? i thought the euthanasia laws had been passed, ?