[speaker001:] well Lynn what do you think should elderly be cared for in the home or do you think they're always better off in a nursing home or are there any answers to something like that
[speaker002:] well there certainly are times when uh it's necessary I believe to place someone in a nursing home um that uh person just becomes too expensive and too um hard on the family to care for somebody within their home but uh I think everything possible should be done to uh keep someone at home before that happens
[speaker001:] yeah well my my mother who's seventy is has living with her my eighty nine year old grandmother
[speaker002:] oh my
[speaker001:] and oh they're doing fine so far
[speaker002:] oh thank goodness
[speaker001:] but uh
[speaker002:] does your mother have any help
[speaker001:] it no no and and my grandmother's pretty self-sufficient uh she did have a mini stroke recently which is left her just a tiny bit addled but I don't think she's any place close to needing a nursing home
[speaker002:] no I I think it's only when a person becomes uh my father had to be placed eventually in a nursing home he had uh Alzheimer's disease
[speaker001:] oh how sad
[speaker002:] yeah it's um and it was just impossible to care for him uh twenty four hours a day um
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] but uh and there weren't enough um resources I think in the community to help uh my mother care for him
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] which was really unfortunate
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] I think it it it the placement could have been delayed had there been um more resources in their community
[speaker001:] that must have been very difficult for her to make that decision
[speaker002:] oh it it was and uh I think she she was there every every day uh at noon and at night to make sure that he was fed and cared for in a proper way and it was exhausting
[speaker001:] I think one of the the toughest parts about the decision would be finding the home uh I know in Texas we hear so many of so many abuses in nursing homes that it's just I don't know where you'd start
[speaker002:] he well I think you know the first thing is just to look at lots of them and then it it does make a difference if there are regular visits by family um that uh the staff you know is aware that they can't be neglecting somebody if the family's there everyday
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] um and I I must say I have some sympathy for the nursing home staff itself they you they are overworked
[speaker001:] oh yes and probably underpaid in a lot of cases I mean I think that's treated as pretty much unskilled labor
[speaker002:] uh certainly yes it's doesn't have um uh it's not compensated adequately and the um and there's certainly no prestige attached to uh um you know it's sort of a yeah it's it's it's a sad situation
[speaker001:] yeah I wonder if the church run nursing homes in general are better than the others
[speaker002:] I think any uh nonprofit facility is probably better run than uh those institutions that are strictly for profit uh so that means often that they are church run
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] but um
[speaker001:] my late in-laws lived at Leisure World uh for a number of years but I actually they moved away from there with a daughter before they needed the final care I guess it had graduated levels of care or something in that facility I don't know if you're familiar with that or not it's in Southern California
[speaker002:] oh yeah actually I um my my work is to advise families in finding care for their elders and sometimes that means getting in all kinds of community resources to the home whether it's Meals-on-Wheels or uh home help aids or whatever but when somebody is looking for care I recommend that they look for something that's uh has more than one level
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] that it's not just an independent living facility