Unless institutionalized for young people with mental problems, there is hardly any younger American who understands the nursing home life; to understand, people have to visit a nursing home to see how the residents live every day. Just by looking at the faces of the elders in nursing homes can make a person’s heart melt; and all the activities that these elders do are eating, waiting for nurses to come and help them with moving around or bathing, receiving treatments for their illnesses, sitting and hoping for visitors. My heart melted when some of the residents at the nursing home that I helped with the bingo night told the members of Young at Heart that no one came to visit them—their voices were full of sadness and helplessness. No one wants to be alone at old age.
For example, my 72-year-old grandfather is still working because he does not want to be alone. I do not talk to my grandparents much because I am usually busy with my schoolwork, and sometimes I feel like there is nothing to talk about, and they will not understand my problems anyway. Usually, they pretend that they do not care whether I talk to them or not, but they really want to talk to me because they are lonely—they have nothing to look forward to because they have lived through everything. Now, they are just looking back to the past, and by talking to me they feel like they could relive their youths. Therefore, it is extremely important to visit the elders at nursing homes because they are hoping to talk to someone about their stories of life.
Elder Neglect 