"Living Old"

The Frontline that I watched was called “Living Old.” The video addressed a lot of the issues that Americans face when they begin to reach their 70s. In America the number of people over 65 is reaching nearly 25% which is a huge number of people that the younger generations have to provide aid to. The problem that we face, however, is that not many people are equipped to do this. We only have half a dozen hospitals in the U.S. that are specifically designed towards treating geriatrics. One of the issues that we are facing is that our medicine is becoming too advanced. People are no longer dying from cancer and other catastrophic diseases, but rather they are dying from their long term untreatable conditions, such as Parkinson’s or Dementia. And although they are living longer because our scientific advancements have helped them do so, their quality of life is slowly deteriorating, along with their bodies. And when an elderly person becomes sick, it is often too difficult for a family member to take them in, resulting in hospitalization. Only one in 20 people over the age of 85 is mobile, meaning that if they don’t have a caregiver at home, they must go to live in a nursing home. Some residents thrive in such a setting that offers them a large social atmosphere, but many slowly lose a passion to live, and begin to decline swiftly. In the video a woman called a nursing home, “the waiting room; it’s where we all come to wait to die.” I think this is a very sad thought, but many of the elderly that they interviewed were not scared of death, or even wished to live much longer. When you become older, you are no longer concerned with leaving this world; you are concerned with living in it and truly being able to be independent and enjoy the things you did your entire life. So it is important, regardless of how difficult it is, to discuss with family members what you want, and how you want to be when you’re living old.