MissMorrigan
Posts: 2309
Joined: 1/15/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: sophia37
Gee wiz. Here we all are. Speaking for the elderly. And how old are we? I'm not yet 50, altho 49 does feel elderly at times. the truth is, I dont come from a wealthy background and my friends dont either. But our elderly parents did ok for themselevs. I feel like this thread presumes old people are just in terrible shape. When in my experieiance, they saved much much more than my generation.
So before we get all teary eyed about the old folks. Just give yourself a moment and wonder if perhaps those poor people have an awful lot of money in the bank boo hoo. In my experieince over and over again, that is the case. So lets stop feeling so awful about people who might just have the means to be helping US!
No one is assuming that the entire elderly population is struggling financially. The OP is addressing those who are.
I can't speak for the elderly, but I can speak from experience of working for Social Services in the UK. Why do you think that any govt. section refers to the elderly as 'vulnerable' persons?
The majority of the elderly are not middle/upper class persons who have had the opportunity to invest wisely, have a decent pension scheme or savings/assets to ensure comfortability for the duration of their lives.
The majority are working class who rely on a govt. pension which is meagre and certainly not in line with the cost of living for the average person. Add to that the rising costs of household fuels, groceries and general household products ensuring that many have to make a choice whether to warm themselves or eat.
I would dearly love for you to do the job I did, which was to go into a person's home, with a social worker, and assess their level of need/care, then implement a home care plan. There are three options regarding daily sustenance: Feeding one's self; Have 'Meals on Wheels'; Have a carer to come in to provide breakfast, lunch and tea - all of which is dependent on the level of dependency for each individual and whether they have the correct benefits/or can afford to pay for their homecare privately. The latter is not an option for many.
If they opt for Meals on Wheels (which they still have to pay for at a subsidised rate), the foods provided are small portions, bland, stewed but at least it is fairly nourishing and they are getting SOMETHING - the sad thing about that is that b/c the service was changed some years ago, meals are delivered frozen - previously they were delivered hot and ready to eat - a lot of elderly persons are physically unable to deal with the simple every day tasks that people like you, and myself, take for granted such as putting on the oven and having the physical ability to remove the meal once it is done - if they remember.
Take some time out of your privileged lifestyle and LOOK at your neighbours, see who perhaps does fall into the category of a 'vulnerable person'. You don't need to knock on their door and embarrass them by offering what you consider 'charity', but you can provide cans of food/litter for their cat or dog weekly if they have one, they love a cuppa and tea is expensive to purchase, so include some teabags. The most important thing you can do for a person is get to know them and then discern what you can do for them. Even with living in a city there is no excuse for not knowing people in the road we live.
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I want to relay a little something to you regarding a lovely old man by the name of Bill (yes, it was his real name). Bill lived in a nice little housing estate and had an old black and white dog called Jess. Bill was part of the community, he could be seen every day of the week walking his dog, or even just having a cheery "Hello!" for his neighbours that walked past. Through those "Hellos!" it was discovered that Bill had a son living in India and whom he hadn't seen for some years sadly, his eyes would mist up when he spoke about him. As time went on, Bill's usually smart appearance would seem a little 'off'. His shirts weren't as clean as they once were - his wife had died some years previously and he always kept their house/his clothes to a standard she kept - his wife was very houseproud. The neighbours suspected Bill was having difficulty maintaining his every day life, including personal care and devised a plan of action without being intrusive. Bill would often invite a neighbour in for a cuppa and it wasn't too much of a stretch for the neighbour to wash up the tea things and push the hoover around, afterall, they were at a loose end and would welcome having something to keep them busy. Another neighbour would yell through to Bill (he always kept his door open during the day) that they were just about to put on the washing machine and had a little room, if he needed some shirts, etc... thrown in. He never declined. Pet lovers being what they are, always buy in way too much food for their pets so invariably a box of dog food would be stored up - and make its way to Bill's each fortnight, along with flea treatments and worming tablets monthly/bi-annually.
Bill was never a large man, when he died (shortly after his dog had to be put to sleep one day after she collapsed and was unable to walk) he was severely underweight for a man his height. He loved his dog more than anything, even to the point he'd go without his meals to provide for his dog in terms of food and vet bills - his dog was his life. He had gotten used to eating much smaller portions and skipping meals so that when kindly neighbours provided the much needed help for him and his dog he was unable to increase his own food intake. Bill was too proud to ask for help and hid his weight loss underneath heavy waistcoasts and jumpers.
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The Tooth Fairy who teaches kids to sell body parts for money.
A free society is a society where it is safe to find one's self unpopular and where history has shown that exceptions are not that exceptional.
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RE: The elderly are skipping meals.. - 
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