| Abstract: | “The plight of the ageing and the truly aged person (for plight it is) does not start in the nursing home, it only ends there. How does he get there? What is the path to the door? Generally, there is a gradual progression of losses, diminution of strengths, decreasing opportunities for meaningful and restorative personal and social experiences and increased isolation. As self-sufficiency decreases, there is less opportunity for continued living in the community. Society has not yet stepped in to replace and provide those supports and services which once came from the family and the neighbourhood. . . . When the long-term care institution is chosen as alternative to continued living alone or with his family, it is often not the best solution, but the only one.”1 |
