Issues of Elderly Care in the US

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Dear Student,
The solution below looks at a familiar issue. If you like to do further research, you can use the listed references. Also, may I advise that if you have experience of this issue or observed it around you, you can add your perspectives in your final paper. This should get you started. Good luck and thank you for using Brainmass.

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OTA 105878/Xenia Jones
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Family Issue - Aging

Aging and care of the elderly is an issue that is confronting American families. Aging is a reality of human life. Babies are born, human beings age. The journey from birth to adulthood to the end of the twilight years is accepted as par of the life cycle. In the social sphere though, while birth gives joy, death brings only sadness as families and loved ones feel the loss of a member of their family. But is the loss really true for families of this day and age? The issue of care for the elderly is a public issue confronting the modern American society. As the competition for jobs, wealth and access to power and resources heats up, it would seem that the needs of the more vulnerable family members are forgotten even by those who they consider as their own. The problem of the elderly is that many feel that they are seen more as a burden by their children and loved ones that feelings of loneliness, despair and hopelessness about their own mortality can lead to terrible bouts of depression. In fact, depression among the elderly is common as physical decline and frailty combined with detachment and removal from the sphere of importance in the lives of their loved ones and their community. A report by the non-profit Helpguide presented that of the elderly in America in care homes and assisted living facilities show that at least 70% experience mild to severe depression affecting quality of life and the way they view themselves and live their remaining years. Age used to symbolize wisdom and the elders of a community and a culture are traditionally given respect and deep importance due to their views, experience and knowledge gleaned in their lifetime. This is the ideal cultural notion about age. The ideal care is one full of love and importance, one where the elder members of one's family is given full support and care in a setting that adds to the quality of life experience.

But of late, a report by the CDC (2010) suggested that suicide due to depression of the elderly has increased by incidence and while most families still take care of the elderly, a huge percentage now find that sending their elder members to assisted-care facilities is a better option than providing home care which leads to incidence of depression. But this is still a much better outcome than the cases of elderly being left alone to cope for themselves which can ...