“Have you ever seen Soylent Green? “Soylent Green is PEOPLE!” Okay, fine. We’ve shouted the ubiquitous line in our heads but let’s move past that… do you remember how Sol, Edward G. Robinson’s character, went to the “Home” clinic? I love that part of the movie, even though he went there to die.
Do you ever think about death? How you want to die? Isn’t this a fun topic? Kim and Kanye’s wedding? Old news. Let’s talk about something more exciting – dying in a NURSING HOME! Woo hoo! Please no paparazzi. No pictures or autographs. Thank you.
The good news: If you’re reading this, then you’re ALIVE! Congratulations and you really should celebrate – today and every day. The bad news: You are really going to die. I know. It’s not something any of us want to spend a whole lot of time thinking about but it’s a fact and one we will face. Here’s another fun fact: Seventy percent of Americans die in a long-term care or hospital setting.
Although today’s nursing homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities (for the purpose of this article, we’ll lump them together as “SNF’s) are getting better, many of them are what we all envision when we think about a nursing home: Grim, sad, lonely places …and the smell… Not pleasant. Many of the residents are immobile, confined to a bed in a three-bed room with dingy walls and one TV blaring loudly. A large percentage of residents experience declined mental ability and 65% of us who are admitted to an SNF die within the first year.
Now, now… No wrist-slitting. Take a sip of that coffee. There’s hope! SNF’s are generally staffed with smart, caring people and the quality of life in an SNF has truly improved over the last 10 years. If we have to die, and we do, at least we know that the nurses and caregivers assigned to us do have our best care in mind. Also, can’t we do something to make these facilities better?
I often wonder how we allow ourselves to enter our end-of-life stage in these types of facilities. Knowing the conditions of these institutions, what does that tell us about our own self worth, when we resign ourselves to this fate? What does it teach our children? Does our quality of life become less important when we are no longer able to care for ourselves? Are we no longer valued at that stage of our lives? Many of us complain about our youth-obsessed society but are we subconsciously contributing to those ideals?
I know we’re busy. Often too busy with the struggle of getting through the day/month/years – but perhaps we should take some time to think about the facilities where we, our loved ones and friends, will likely go to meet our deaths. What if we can make it better… for everyone? We should, and I believe that we can. We all deserve better.”
Editor’s Note: Erin Farrell is a professional Senior Citizens Advocate and author of a book series called “Talk to History.” You can address her through InformNVR@aol.com