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110
to provide fresh accommodation for them in the event of such a
scheme being put into operation? Yet there is little point in
restoring an old person to health if his home is no longer in being
or unless one could be provided.
A very good case can be made out for sheltered housing such
as "colleges" or "warden controlled" accommodation where
inmates would have private quarters surrounded by their personal
possessions, with prompt attention from a resident matron should
the occasion arise and with a communal room or centre within easy
reach. This centre could be made the focal point for activities
involving all the elderly from the neighbourhood and would provide
the therapeutic companionship to counter any feeling of segregation.
Schemes for solving the problem of the "ideal welfare home"
are legion but it is generally agieed that the small home of not more
than 40 beds, recommended by the Ministry, is likely to prove the
most satisfactory. As usual with most of these projects money
becomes the most formidable obstacle. How much and on what
shall it be spent? Such a question is certain to involve basic policy
for it is clear that sufficient financial support for all the worthwhile
schemes will not be made available. Indeed, in these days of local
and national stringency it is difficult to see how enough money will
be forthcoming to tackle even the most urgent problems. When
faced with a choice of one course of action or another which will
set a pattern for the next decade, the policy decision becomes
acutely significant and a re-examination of the ground is warranted.
At present, of the million retired people, only slightly less
than 100,000 are in local authority homes. At first glance this
relatively small figure hardly seems to warrant the intensive
investigation it has suffered in recent years. However, if we
remember that in 20 years time there will be a further 2 million
people of pensionable age we will get some idea of the coming
problem. Many of the retired people will become eligible for and
in fact may require welfare home accommodation but the demand
will remain unsatisfied. Homes nowadays are not being built, as
previously, large enough to house the family and the grandparents
and the leeway is not being made up by the housing authorities.
Society itself is not "allowing" for them as it once did. Local
authorities are faced with the dilemma of long-term planning of
special housing for the elderly or expanding the existing supportive
services. To attempt both on limited finances may be to risk
"falling between two stools". In either case, the course of action
will be plagued with staff shortages. Nevertheless, if we believe
in preserving someone's power of self-determination, then we must
opt for the supportive services. The Government is pressing local