By Bob Singer, LNHA, PCA Elderly residents of nursing homes are people just like you and me. They like to have fun and enjoy all of the social activities that we enjoy. Many people only see the handicapped and demented elderly as society's leftovers with no place to go but into the nursing homes to wait for the inevitable. I write this article to suggest that nursing home residents are not there to die, but are there to live, to learn new ways to deal with their lives, their handicaps, and to participate in as many social activities as they can become actively involved. These senior citizens do require a great deal of help.
Social activities tend to be expensive.
Residents of nursing homes require special assistance and special transportation to attend many events. They need constant supervision and care giving. This means that attendants must escort them from place to place. Baseball games, theater presentations, and a nice lunch out in a fine restaurant all cost a considerable amount of money. Despite the expense, residents need these and other outside social activities just like a young mother needs some time away from the kids.