Frontline Living Old Analysis

Based on the documentary “Frontline: Living Old”, some of the scenes from the documentary that influences the living arrangements I would consider for my parents is when Ms. Paunescu cares for her mother, Maria, at her apartment. I would prefer my parents to live with me as well despite the health circumstances, because I know the needs of my parents, and I will be responsible for administering the proper medication for them. If, however, I am too busy to take care of my parents when I am at work, I believe that Adult Day Care centers are a good way for my parents to socialize with others. I enjoyed seeing the elderly singing in the nursing home, and I believe that socialization is imperative for the mental well-being of the elderly there.
In the documentary, Mary Ann DiBerardino, the daughter of Chester and Rosemary Haak makes sure that her parents are receiving the proper and ethical treatment from the staff at the nursing homes.
However, I personally would not want my loved ones to stay at a nursing home. My grandmother had recently broken her femur and had a short-term stay at a local nursing home while she was recovering. Unfortunately, the staff failed to do simple tasks such as changing my grandmother’s soiled diapers, or even responding to her buzzer -- it was dehumanizing. Moreover, It did not help that she could not speak English, and failed to communicate with the nurses when they were administrating her medication. Like the scenes where Dr. Farber and Dr. David Mueller, describes the decision-making by families for treatments of their loved ones, I would constantly receive phone calls from the nursing home because my grandmother did not know what injections she was receiving daily, or the medications she was taking. I was conflicted about whether to allow the nurse to administer blood thinners to her to prevent blood clots, or not allow them to because of the side-effects my grandmother was
having. The nursing home institution changes the experience of living longer for the elderly because residents are provided medical attention and their medication is supervised by the nurses. Furthermore, nursing homes also have specialized health facilities such as physical therapy and occupational therapy; for instance, for someone who has arthritis, or for those who are in rehab after a surgery, or psychologists, to help the patients cope with aging. In addition, nursing homes also provide safe living conditions and provide a sense of security for families if their loved ones have age-associated diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, or dementia. Likewise, they intend to increase the residents’ longevity by helping them with their everyday needs, such as bathing them and feeding them on a meal plan and schedule. More importantly, an upside of nursing homes is the socialization because they provide activities and events for the elderly in order to alleviate psychological problems such as stress and depression that may be caused by isolation.