In the hands of strangers
...disturbing evidence about the quality of home care provided to our elderly. It tells the poignant tale of many pensioners for whom the only contact with the outside world is the carer who gets them up in the morning, prepares their food and then returns to put them to bed in the evening. In the hours between, many sit alone, unable to move, simply waiting.
�
...Increasingly, however, the rationing of care has meant that many of those who would have received it 10 years ago would probably not be deemed eligible today. Those who qualify now may not in a year's time. "Eligibility" is decreed as much by the size of a local authority's coffers as a pensioner's need for care.
�
...After three weeks, Fran began to distance herself from the emotional needs of the patients. "I've got into the mind of a carer a bit more and I'm not entirely sure I like it. I'm starting to feel that it's unreasonable that someone wants to have a conversation with me."
�
...more than anything else, it's made me absolutely terrified of getting old...
�Sarah Barclay/Panorama/BBC1
Telegraph UK Nov.16.03 (reg.req.)
________________
Ω{That's in the UK; the undercover journalism for the US, if it is being done, isn't readily available. We do know, though, that citizens of the US are spending $4 Billion dollars a year on cat food. For cats.}
...disturbing evidence about the quality of home care provided to our elderly. It tells the poignant tale of many pensioners for whom the only contact with the outside world is the carer who gets them up in the morning, prepares their food and then returns to put them to bed in the evening. In the hours between, many sit alone, unable to move, simply waiting.
�
...Increasingly, however, the rationing of care has meant that many of those who would have received it 10 years ago would probably not be deemed eligible today. Those who qualify now may not in a year's time. "Eligibility" is decreed as much by the size of a local authority's coffers as a pensioner's need for care.
�
...After three weeks, Fran began to distance herself from the emotional needs of the patients. "I've got into the mind of a carer a bit more and I'm not entirely sure I like it. I'm starting to feel that it's unreasonable that someone wants to have a conversation with me."
�
...more than anything else, it's made me absolutely terrified of getting old...
�Sarah Barclay/Panorama/BBC1
Telegraph UK Nov.16.03 (reg.req.)
________________
Ω{That's in the UK; the undercover journalism for the US, if it is being done, isn't readily available. We do know, though, that citizens of the US are spending $4 Billion dollars a year on cat food. For cats.}
