The curse of old age

 

The illusion is one of happiness and joy as one reaches maturity. Hollywood has romanticised the inevitable outcome to every generation, and depicted a maturity where one relaxes alongside their beloved partner, and eventually together, they will peacefully fade out of existence. The reality disturbingly contradicts this popular notion.

The uncontrolled defecation, urination, hair loss, joint pain suffered by most is less than enjoyable and of course there is the constant trauma of becoming a burden onto your family. According to John Bingham, “more than one million families have been forced to sell their home in just five years to meet the cost of paying for residential care” and if you’re unfortunate enough to be sent to a care home of less than the highest quality then you’re likely to be subject to abuse and mistreatment from workers who view the elderly as nothing other than invalids. The likelihood of escaping from such an institute is slim to none; your family (in the same way a petulant child might be ignored) will dismiss claims of mistreatment as nothing more than a decrepit cry for attention.  No place is safe, the acclaimed Orchid view home which costs an outstanding £3,000 a month and is rated as “good” was found guilty of mistreatment and abuse of its residents. “A five-week inquest heard that residents were routinely given overdoses of medication, and were left soiled and in pain during two years of terrible mismanagement and staff shortages.”

In recent years, there has been a shocking rise in the number of reported cases of care home abuse, “HSCIC figures showed that the number of cases referred for investigation by councils in England rose from 108,000 in 2011/2012, to 112,000 in 2012/2013.” The concern is that there may still be a wide number of cases that are still not being reported because people fear the repercussions of being dubbed a ‘snitch’. Charities such as age concern UK are working alongside British city councils in the hope of rectifying this neglect.

Old age will eventually come upon even the best of us, and if the social workers employed to take of us cannot seemingly do so, then there is need for concern. “Abuse is unacceptable and we need a zero-tolerance approach to any abuse, whether through neglect, financial manipulation or physical or mental cruelty” especially if the abuse if to one of the elderly who can no longer protect themselves and are dependent on the generosity of those around them. The Hollywood reality should not be taken as fact; the elderly among us are some of the most vulnerable.