Going Home

Homes, as they politely call places to stow old people that no one wants to put up with, can and as some are doing, be changed. Of course, after reading an article about a home that purports to spend extra millions as an experiment, and making changes - minor ones that I could see, and I, trying to make a comment, the censors of this so-called comment invitational site, zapped me out. That sort of mindless discrimination. But that's a topic for another day.) Back to The Home. Being familiar with The Home while visiting relatives installed in them, and rightly so, because their next of kin really could not care for them, I noticed many things that should and could be changed. And it didn't seem they would be expensive. First change is the smell of these places. Why? Surely, someone can plug a scent maker into an outlet somewhere. Second, the hallways are ridiculous. Who needs to see someone's jigsaw puzzle in a frame? And certainly not the memorial plaques everywhere or  the lit candle for the dead. Yikes, how depressing is that? Third, the clutter. No thanks to the hallway bins overflowing with diapers, stained bibs and piles of used bed linen. And please take the carts full of dirty dishes away. No one wants to look at that. I hear my mother saying, "DO the dishes." Fourth, the room decor. Do we really need misspelled little blackboards reminding one who is on duty? We have speech. Most of the signs in the rooms need to be read once, not hang there forever. Also, the lists of what NOT to do or the last inmate's, colouring book pages still hanging on the wall long after the former has died are trash.  And who arranges the furniture, the cleaner? It seems the whole room is for the benefit of floor washers. I could use the word inmate instead of resident here, because that is exactly how it feels when you are put into a scheduled, controlled environment in such as a "home".  Why call it a home? Fifth, the weekly or monthly program, complete with menu item, Friday Hot Dog Day or Pizza Party should be tossed. If you have to eat wieners or a frozen pizza, don't make a party of it. And let's have a bar somewhere or Happy Hour. We are still adults. So how to fix it?  First rearrange the room furniture in the way that the patient finds appealing. Ask. The resident basically pays for this "hotel". Second, how about a buffet  or cafeteria style food service in which there is  choice of time and food. DO NOT serve anything in a little paper or plastic cups. What real home does that? Toss out the clock which forces residents to a schedule that is for staff and not paying resident. Again, ask. Then there is the quasi entertainment. If I have a Master's Degree, or a journeyman's diploma, do I really want to listen to some bad school choir, worn out comedian or the nice old fiddle player who volunteers. No, a thousand times no. Ask what I like. Most residents go these childish events to be nice and look cooperative for the report to the the family when and if they come to visit.  And the exercise class with some cute young student doing a physiotherapy unit, cooing, is not fun.  All this may seem unfair comment, but really, I've been there and seen there, and these are the truths of the matter. Not all are this bad, but....  When I go to a "home" that will never be home to me, I want to be considered a normal human being of long experience and education, someone who can make her own decisions and choices. Please, just ASK.