Some things I could fix, but I felt as helpless as the next person when it came to fixing the system. I couldn't go out and make nursing homes a better place to live. Morrow-Howell admits being a bit humbled by the challenge of caring for her own elderly relative, but she should not have been surprised. Her research, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, shows that government institutions and other agencies provide only a small percentage of elder care, while most of the burden falls on already stressed adult children. Her studies confirm that one in four elderly patients gets inadequate home care, in part because caregivers are overwhelmed by other duties.
Families do their best, but modern society can make elder care a logistical nightmare.
More women work full time. More children take jobs in distant places. Suburban sprawl and increased reliance on the auto can leave elders stranded in their own homes. It was Morrow-Howell's desire to be closer to her own extended family that brought her to Washington University. A native St. Louisan, she'd been on the road since earning bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the University of Kansas in 1974 and 1975.