[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] So, what do you think about it? Should,
[speaker002:] Um, I like the idea of nursing homes as a, as a growing choi-, the choices you have in nursing homes now, whereas used to, you used to have only, you put, you know, when, when people got to the point where they were debilitated and couldn't take care of themselves
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and there was no other choice. You couldn't take them in your own home, then they went into a nursing home. You know, maybe you lived too far away to care for them,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] or your daily job or whatever prevented it. But, um, I like the choices you have now, where they can go into an apartment type setting and have some, basically have a independent life-style, but assisted care.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And then if things deteriorate, they can go to a second level which is, you know, like, where they prepare their meals for them
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and, and they still live somewhat independently but they have people checking on them and making sure they have hot meals.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And then where the same community a lot of times will also have the third level, which is full care, you know, where some people can't, where they're in a wheelchair or where they're in a bed,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and they can't get around but then they have full care. But I really like those, those options now, and, and I think about it more often because my husband's parents are, they're very active right now, but they're seventy-five and, and seventy-two. So, that comes up somewhat more often in my thoughts as I see these things
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] because of their age.
[speaker001:] Yes. Um, it's, it's funny because, um, I know people at, that are in all three, and people that work, you know, I know someone that w-, works in all three different stages like you said.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And I have known, you know, people close to me that have been in all three, and I have seen them like go from where they're in an apartment building, they, we call it, um, well, we have high rises, and it's just for elderly people, you know, or most of, most of, one of their spouses has already passed away.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And it's really nice for them because then they're with people their own age, and people that have gone through things exactly what they have gone through.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And, it's, it's really nice to go and see them, you know, where they can still get around and everything, and they still, you know, do their own thing, but it's, it's really nice to see them because, I mean sometimes, like I had a great aunt, she lived with us for, um, three months, and, because she's starting to get Alzheimer's disease. And I know I have a bunch of younger brothers and sisters, and I know it was hard for me as well as it was for them to, to actually sit down, because she doesn't like doing things that the younger kids like doing.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] And to actually sit, so it's really nice to see that.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that's some of the things I would find important before I, I would look into that for a person, is, is, is like you're saying, a good mix of people who have the same interests.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, and the programs, here they have different, uh, besides just different levels within the same program, they have different types of programs. They have several areas. They have one area in town where the people, I guess a lot of it comes with money. I, this, this one area is a bit more expensive, and the people who probably are living there have had more money in their life. But, but things that people where they have similar interests.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Like you're saying, and the programs that they have, where, where some of them will have dances once a week
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and some of them sponsor different crafts, and they go to the arboretum to see things, and they make sure that if they want to go to church, there's a bus there.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, it'll, or, you know, or someone will transport them to a specific church, even though it's, you know, maybe it's thirty minutes away, because it's a big, you know, Dallas area is a big metropolitan area.
[speaker001:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] But a lot of these places have, have churches or have, have individual transportation. That's, that's something I'd look for, something that would make me happy personally if I had to live there.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Because I don't think a lot of people really, even in the nice ones, and even in the ones where they can live fairly independently, they really don't necessarily like it
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] because they're not in their own home.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So I think those kinds of things, to make it more homelike and to make it more, um, enjoyable for them. That'd, that'd be one thing I'd look for, along with the, uh, health care aspects
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] to make sure they had, you know, that it was clean and that they had good doctors and nurses.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Um, I'm in college, and I'm, I'm only twenty-one but we had a spee-, I had a speech class last semester, and there was a girl in my class who did a speech on home care of the elderly.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And I was so surprised to hear how many people, like whenever they're in, you know, the older people, they're like, um, fastened to their beds so they can't get out just because they, you know, they wander the halls.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And they get the wrong medicine, just because, you know, the, the aides or whoever just give them the wrong medicine.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And so many of them, you know, are,
[speaker002:] Are overmedicated, too.
[speaker001:] Yes. And it was, it was awful to hear what, you know, what some of these people really went through. And I forget the percentage of people that, you know, that she had said, and this was, I mean, she did research on it and everything.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Yeah, that's one of the things that, that we don't think about as we get older, and the, the money that it now requires to, uh, be in one of these places. Because some of these people that are just on social security, and if they don't have any living relatives, perhaps they never had children or if their children, you know, passed away before they did
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] they can be in some places that are, you know, that, that are not good.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Or they, they have very minimum, minimal care and the, the care that they are getting, the people who are giving it are pro-, are paid at a minimum wage, and they just do-, they don't care as much.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And, and like you said, they're trying to make it, the caretakers in some cases are trying to make easy on themselves to the point where they're putting people in bed or overmedicating them so they'll stay in one spot and not do anything.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] That certainly would be something to, to watch for. Because you've got, with some of them being, some of these places can even be two and three thousand dollars a month to stay in,.
[speaker001:] I know, and some-, and sometimes they share a room, and it's just a little cubbyhole,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and they share it with another person, and they're still paying that much.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah, so you've,
[speaker001:] It, it, it just sometimes, it just seems ridiculous.
[speaker002:] Yeah, you've got to really strike a balance in what kind of care, what kind of level of care you need, and then what you can, unfortunately what you can afford at the same time.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah. Um, I've been lucky, well, my mom's, um, parents, they're both in their, in their, uh, eighties, and I was just home for spring break and my grandma said something to me about, she goes, well maybe we'll just sell the house. She said, it's getting too big for us to take care of. And I was like, no, no, no,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] stay in the house as long as you can.
[speaker002:] Well, like there are other communities, too, that aren't necessarily a nursing home. I had an aunt who lived in a small town in Texas that, um, was in a, it was a, it was a housing division. Each person had their own little bitty house
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that they had built, and it was, um, supplemented, their, they were, most of them were on social security, and they got some kind of supplemental aid besides from the state government. But it was this little bitty one bedroom house, but it was a separate house, and they had a living room, and a bedroom and a kitchen,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] and a bathroom. So they still had, they had, and they had people who came in who, um, supervised, th-, all these houses, were like fifteen or twenty of them all right together kind of like on one block.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And they had a, a supervisory, um, wasn't a house, really, it was, it was more like, um, a headquarters
[speaker001:] It sounds like, uh, an apartment or som-,
[speaker002:] or something, anyway, where they, they staffed it three shifts a day so that someone, if they needed someone, they could ring and, and someone,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] could come to their house.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And that, and they always cooked, then they had, they had the choice, you know, they lived in their own little house.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] They had their own possessions still in there, to some ex-, you know, some of them.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And they could make their own breakfast if they wanted to, and their own dinner, and they always had somebody come in for lunch. But they had people who did, you know, they didn't have to mess with the yard.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] They had people who did the yard, and they had a maid that, uh, uh, service that came in and cleaned everybody's house. So they didn't have to worry about that.
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] And it was really a nice, it was really a nice compromise, especially, because she felt like she was still living in her own house.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And she still had her own couch, and her own bed, and it, it really helped a lot, and she was a lot more comfortable, and she didn't resent [static] like having to be in a situation, because she still had a lot of her own possessions.
[speaker001:] Oh, really?
[speaker002:] [Static] Yeah.
[speaker001:] See, now we've run into a lot of problems where our relatives were, well, I've lived here for thirty years,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and we've built this, and this is our home, and we have nothing else to show for our lives, and we don't want to leave.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, we've run into a lot of that.
[speaker002:] Yeah, it would be hard to.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] That's, that's why this, she was, she felt that way, too, but when, it helped that she got to still be in a house and still have some of her own stuff.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And I guess that, that, it was a pilot program I think, where she lived, so it's probably not widely available.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh, yeah. That's what like, well, um, now I know we have an ol-, we call it an old folks home, but it's basically a nursing home too, but everyone has basically their own room.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And they're allow-, you know, th-, none of them have cars because they can't drive.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But if someone would come to get them, you know, they're allowed to leave with them, and there's a staff there that makes supper for them, and each person has a chore, like maybe Wednesday night it's George's turn to set all the tables.
[speaker002:] Uh.
[speaker001:] And it's really nice because that keeps them going, too, rather than just sitting around.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And I know, um, our youth group goes over and we play bingo with them and, you know, like,
[speaker002:] That's good.
[speaker001:] stuff like that.
[speaker002:] Everybody needs some sense of responsibility.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh
[speaker002:] An even, even if it's just a little bit.
[speaker001:] Yeah, just to keep them going.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So, it's, it's more like living with a big, in a big house where it's your turn to, to set the table, like you're saying, or whatever
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] instead of being waited on hand and foot all the time.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that would be nice.
[speaker001:] But I think before i-, like you, I don't think y-, I don't think it's right to just put someone in it. I think they would have to agree to go in it.
[speaker002:] Yes, unless they're at a point where they're mentally
[speaker001:] Well, yeah.
[speaker002:] incapacitated [static]. Like you're saying with Alzheimer's and stuff, they're going to be some people who have to be there
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] whether they want to or not, [static] and that's when it's important to really check out the medical aspects of it, when you're, when you're in something like that,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that they'll get the kind of medical care they want without, or they need, [static] without overdoing it.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Without doing something to make this, you know, to keep, like you're saying, to keep them still to make the staff happy.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] So [static].
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.