Rarely do I post insights about the personal stories of Advanced Age Seniors, albeit that I am more aware of such stories than are most. For 35 years, in one capacity or another, I have owned and operated a variety of Senior Care Facilities. Certainly, I have not "seen it all", but I have seen "a lot". Most insights that I might offer have previously been offered redundantly by specialty bloggers and the general media. Very little in the entire "geriatric landscape" has been overlooked, except that no one wants to go out on a limb and offer critical commentary about the changing behavior of the "Typical Senior Care Facility Residents" in todays post-Facebook era. My obervation is that this change has been rapid, dramatic and alarming.
Yes, there are more men, yes sky-rocketing cost worry residents, yes technology has made many residents more fearful, and yes big-pharma's drug regimes may actually be causing more anxiety, not less, but.....the new elephant in the room is that:
Increasingly, Advanced Seniors are melancholy, fearful, and judgmental about their respective families, while their families are increasingly dismissive, inconsiderate and belligerent toward their Seniors.
My intention is not to speculate on the complex causal dynamics responsible for this visible decline in intra-family well-being. I simple want to note that, whether social observers highlight the problem, or not, it is happening. Perhaps even more regrettable, this suffering is often overlooked by care-staffs, who are challenged by bottom-line conscious managers to, if at all possible, "present normal". Where compelled to intervene care-staff are, these days, often met with hostility and retribution from both residents and their families. Like it or not, America's "pull no punches" cultural embrace is showing up perilously in our Assisted Living Communities.
Further, I saith not, accept to wonder what will happen when everyone feels justified in saying, "Stop calling me, I can't cope any longer"!