The elderly are loved just as much as they were 50-60 years ago. Therefore it becomes increasingly more and more difficult to demonstrate the advantage of placing a loved one in a long-term facility. These institutions, call them rest homes, convalescent hospitals, nursing homes, or whatever appellation is comforting. For most of them, their most significant feature is the smell of urine permeating the place. Restraints are often used to control the residents and for the convenience of the staff.
Abuse is commonplace, as are bedsores.
Yet these places continue to survive. Many of the people who work in them are unlicensed and untrained in care of the elderly. Home care is not impossible. It does not even have to be a hardship if all aspects are carefully thought out and worked through. The loving care of the family will surely provide dignified, positive care that will assure the loved one that he or she is appreciated and cared for and about.