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109
Seldom is the institution regarded as a necessary expedient to resolve
what may conceivably be a temporary difficulty. In many instances
this is a cruel injustice, for once the decision on admission has been
taken it is extremely unlikely to be rescinded if only for the fact
that homes have been disposed of and accommodation given up.
Indeed, only the most obdurate manage to extricate themselves to
set up home again and resume a normal life. To complicate matters
still further, too many young people feel that once they have seen
mother or father installed into an institution, they are then released
from any additional family obligation and the question of the
parent's discharge home is conveniently ignored.
As a nation we are replete with good intentions and,
theoretically, our ideas on institutions are very advanced. Probably
they compare favourably with most other countries but, somehow,
they miscarry. For example, there is a Ministry recommendation
that old people should be encouraged to take at least some of their
own furniture with them when they enter a welfare home but, in
practice and no doubt for very good reasons, few authorities
acquiesce. Within their limitations and with the utmost goodwill,
most local authorities make valiant attempts to surmount their
former dubious reputations and to convert their institutions into
real homes. Unfortunately, many practical difficulties, including
potential anti-social behaviour, preclude these aims from being
realised.
Nevertheless, although institutional care is far from being an
ideal solution, it fulfils a very necessary function in our modern
society. It caters for the many who have never possessed family
ties nor had a settled domicile and who, therefore, find this kind
of existence quite satisfactory. In addition to providing food and
shelter, it supplies its inmates with most other needs such as entertainment,
outings, parties, television and radio, etc., and even
arranges for educational and handicraft classes when required.
What cannot be disguised or hidden from the elderly, however,
is that welfare homes are places where old people are fed and kept
clean and neat and tidy until they die. By and large, the aged view
the institution as the impersonal juggernaut responsible for the
avulsion from the life they knew and for placing them in an
environment which has no relevance to their previous one. It makes
decisions for them, usurps their responsibilities so that their selfrespect
suffers and they lapse into apathy.
What if a more enlightened attitude be taken of welfare homes
and the sick, tired and frail elderly people, being restored to
normality, are not only prepared for but express a wish to return
home? How many housing authorities would be sufficiently flexible