[speaker001:] okay uh okay so our subject is nursing homes um do you have any experience or any uh opinions on what to do I do
[speaker002:] I do have actually as a matter of fact uh and I'm I'm not sure how it would relate to the big city but there are certainly ways and humane and and nice ways of handling care for our elderly I come from a very small community in northern Iowa and the churches have banded together and built and staffed a retirement home
[speaker001:] um-hum that's wonderful
[speaker002:] and the care of course is is wonderful because these are all people who care
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and every week the churches a different uh groups of the churches volunteer and come in and maybe have bingo day or special celebration day or help someone with their birthday or whatever and it makes the care very personalized of course but since it is a small community everybody knows everybody and so there there would be no absolutely zero chance of any abuse
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum that's great because uh you know I think that is probably a persons greatest fear and I'm not faced with this yet but my mother is seventy three she's in good health and living by herself but um I'll probably be faced with this you know sometime in the next few years as to what to do when mom gets to the point that she can't take care of herself um unfortunately having her come live with us you know if she needs constant care is not going to be an option and what do you do you know
[speaker002:] yeah it's it's a real problem um it is a real problem and I know that everybody hates the idea of going to one of these but I also think that it is a choice that we have all made in our lives as we have drawn back and internalized ourselves as opposed to being a part of the community
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] uh it used to be that neighbors looked out for you the churches looked out for you but many of us don't belong to churches any more
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and so therefore we don't have this broadened community of caring people
[speaker001:] and we don't have the nuclear family that we used to have many many years ago either
[speaker002:] no no absolutely not you know I presume when when the time comes for something to happen to me that I will probably go back to Iowa to be in that community but uh
[speaker001:] well it's good that you know that you have that option available um that because I don't think that too many communities have something like that set up
[speaker002:] but it's the type of thing where I think we should look at some things that are working and try to use them in the cities also
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] I mean is there some reason why some of the churches here could not band together and do a similar situation
[speaker001:] probably not um and it might even be easier here in that there are so many more churches available more people to draw from
[speaker002:] yes and actually a great deal more money
[speaker001:] well yes that's for certain my my mom lives in a small town also and I know you know the funds just aren't available uh to do something in a small town that you have that you can do in a larger town but um uh you know other than care conditions you know I don't know really what else a person looks for uh convenience for the family would be a a wonderful thing uh but that's that's you know that's not always an option either
[speaker002:] right but you know if my family if all of my kids still live here and I go back to Iowa course there is no convenience so probably it would behoove me to try to start something of this sort here in Dallas
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but uh that's a big job you know uh so many needs are crying the homeless the abused children the the beaten wives you know there's so many things going on that that how do we all of this and maybe that's a part of it maybe maybe what we can do is uh of course this is kind of a far flung situation but uh you know they're talking about work fare now in uh Wisconsin I believe it is but is there some reason I wonder why we couldn't have some of these people involved in nursing homes
[speaker001:] um-hum is that
[speaker002:] so that they didn't have to be so expensive you know if you if you've got somebody who is drawing welfare then perhaps that can be quote part of their their payment for their welfare payments
[speaker001:] um-hum well and I think that would be a good idea too I don't know if these people need it for self-esteem it would seem to me that they would but if nothing else yes let them earn some of their money
[speaker002:] yeah because part of the problem now is that it costs so much money to get into a convalescent home or or an aged home
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] you know it's almost prohibited for many persons and uh you know so what do you do does someone go on welfare in order to get in one of those homes or does somebody in the family quit their job so that they can be at home and and but of course that's not always wonderful either because somebody with Alzheimers needs twenty four hour watching and nobody can do that
[speaker001:] um-hum that's right that's right I well I guess that's probably as people get older for
[speaker002:] nobody can do that