Dump Elder Care "HOMES"

 Huge amounts of money are spent for elder care "homes" that aren't homes. Today I read about a couple, married 73 years, who cannot be together due to elder care facilities not able to accommodate them. Has anyone come up with an off-the-wall-idea where there are no homes but the right kinds of personnel and fittings so that elders may live in their own  homes or ones with special management while they live in condo kinds of units instead of semi-hospitals or "homes". Most cost a fortune to run. If we had training facilities that would later employ these individuals to go to and attend homes with elders living in their own homes it might be happier to consider when planning elder care. Would the costs of running commercial "homes" and the personnel in them, not match the cost of such a new plan. Of course it would take years to make the change but getting a start on it, might alleviate our unemployment factor and also allow elders to be near their families. They could visit when they arranged it their way, not having to punch in numbers at the door to visit their loved ones. A personal care worker assigned to a corresponding number of elders to work for,  might be a more happy a situation on both sides, than what we have now that doesn't seem to fit everyone. I will be told that there are such things available but is it working well enough for all. What are the statistics and how can those planning elder care, find these figures?  For those who want an institution atmosphere, fine, but for those who don't fit happily into it, living in their own homes with appropriate sounds sensible. The costs might help pay the difference if we disbanded the large institutions and ramped up home care.  The case I heard was about a couple in home institutions  who each had unique health issues and needed medical assistance only occasionally. Living together and being taken out for assistance for a time would allow them their own beloved place to return to. The whole issue of elder care is essential now that the baby boomer population is entering this phase, We need a shift from the ancient method of being sent to a home over living at home. Elders fear having to go into these institutions where they have one tiny bare room and routines that are deadly in spite of the cartooned schedules no one dares question. One such place we surveyed for a man with limited funds and who worked hard all his life, was shown what he could afford. It was a room for four with one bathroom shared. He turned it down and died in a hospital after a health crisis. I have seen these not-so-nice places; they do, in fact, exist. Those alone in their elder years must find it a frightening thing to contemplate. They are subjected to routines that are mind numbing while they have keen and curious minds and individual needs. It's what they can afford. Until you actually have to face such a lifestyle change, as you and I shall one day, we simply ignore it until it happens. The ads you see with gorgeous rooms and so on, are for the rich only. Being old is being helpless and you do what you have to do. Most elders are, or become dependent upon others. We "others" have ideas to share on what kinds of affordable facilities and plans we will need to be happy, and what is important to us in our waning years. This whole issue needs to open up to learn what elders actually need and want for their aging futures. Ask elders, because this affects every living person. We all grow old.