Aging is part of life, unfortunately. There have been many deep, philosophical discussions, I’m sure, about whether or not immortality is desirable. Personally, I’ve always felt that living forever is not an attractive prospect, but after witnessing the way in which the elderly are treated in assisted living homes, I would reconsider living forever at a young age.

These assisted living places are sad to begin with, because the people living there are too old to function on their own anymore, which is heartbreaking to think about. They can’t do simple tasks like get dressed or make food for themselves. The employees at this place can be wonderful, sweet people who really care about the elderly and want to make their last few years as comfortable as possible. However, that is the exception, not the rule, in these homes.

In the assisted living home I visit at least once a week to see my grandmother, there have been countless accounts of the employees taking advantage of the residents. Jewelry has been stolen. Employees have taken the alcohol that family members buy for their elderly. The elderly don’t have the passcode to enter the building if their family members take them out to dinner and they come back after a certain time. We have to wait outside until someone hears us knocking and comes to open the door. They don’t return laundry for several days. They don’t provide toilet paper for the residents. When the emergency button around the neck of one of the elderly is pressed, it can sometimes take up to 10-15 minutes for someone to check on them (this is supposed to be used in case of an emergency, such as falling and breaking something).

While this is troubling for anyone who has a loved one in an assisted living home, this is especially bothersome for families like mine who have an elderly person in a home like this who has a speech impediment. We often have trouble deciphering what she is trying to tell us, even more so when she is upset. It took us a while to figure out that she had discovered her pearl earrings had gone missing because she couldn’t get the words out.

No matter the disabilities an elderly person has, they should be treated correctly. Under no circumstances should they be taken advantage of in the way I have witnessed in the time my grandmother has been in this home. It costs a lot to put family members in the best assisted living places, where they are treated impeccably, but these problems in the less expensive places have nothing to do with money. It has to do with being decent human beings. It doesn’t cost anything to not steal, to give residents the code to get into their home, to return things promptly and to respond immediately to emergency calls.

We don’t have the ability to fight the aging process, but staying healthy as long as possible is the best way to try. It’s also almost impossible to fight the awful things that happen at these assisted living homes, but spreading the word and raising awareness is the first step.

*Disclaimer*: These are my observations from one place in particular, so it’s completely possible the circumstances are better in other establishments.