well Lynn what do you think should elderly be cared for in the home or do you think they're always better off in a nursing home or are there any answers to something like that
 	
 	
 		
 
 		well there certainly are times when uh it's necessary i believe to place someone in a nursing home
 		um that uh person just becomes too expensive and too um hard on the family
 		to care for somebody within their home
 		but uh i think everything possible should be done to
 		uh keep someone at home before that happens
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		well my my mother who's seventy is has living with her my eighty nine year old grandmother
 	
 	
 		oh my
 	
 	
 		and oh they're doing fine so far
 	
 	
 		oh thank goodness
 	
 	
 		but uh
 	
 	
 		does your mother have any help
 	
 	
 		it
 		no
 		no and and my grandmother's pretty self-sufficient uh she did have a mini stroke recently
 		which is left her just a tiny bit addled
 		but i don't think she's any place close to needing a nursing home
 	
 	
 		no i i think it's only when a person becomes
 		uh my father had to be placed eventually in a nursing home he had uh Alzheimer's disease
 	
 	
 		oh how sad
 	
 	
 		yeah it's um
 		and it was just impossible to care for him uh twenty four hours a day um
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		but uh
 		and there weren't enough um
 		resources i think in the community to help uh my mother care for him
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		which was really unfortunate
 	
 	
 		yes
 	
 	
 		i think it it it the placement could have been delayed had there been
 		um more resources in their community
 	
 	
 		that must have been very difficult for her to make that decision
 	
 	
 		oh it it was
 		and uh
 		i think she she was there every every day uh
 		at noon and at night to make sure that he was
 		fed and cared for in
 		a proper way and
 		it was exhausting
 	
 	
 		i think one of the the toughest parts about the decision would be finding the home
 		uh i know in Texas we hear so many of so many abuses in nursing homes
 		that it's just
 		i don't know where you'd start
 	
 	
 		he
 		well i think you know the first thing is just to look at  lots of them and then
 		it it does make a difference if there are regular visits by family um
 		that uh the staff
 		you know is aware that they can't be neglecting somebody if the family's there everyday
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		um
 		and i i must say i have some sympathy for the
 		nursing home staff itself they
 		you they are overworked
 	
 	
 		oh yes and probably underpaid in a lot of cases i mean i think that's treated as pretty much unskilled labor
 	
 	
 		uh
 		certainly
 		yes it's doesn't have um
 		uh it's not compensated adequately and the um
 		and there's certainly no prestige
 		attached to
 		uh um you know it's sort of a yeah it's it's it's a sad situation
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		i wonder if the church run nursing homes in general are better than the others
 	
 	
 		i think any uh nonprofit facility is probably better run than
 		uh those institutions that are strictly for profit uh so that means
 		often that they are church run
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		but um
 	
 	
 		my late in-laws lived at Leisure World
 		uh for a number of years but i actually they moved away from there with a daughter before they needed the final care i guess it had graduated levels of care or something in that facility i don't know if you're familiar with that or not it's in Southern California
 	
 	
 		oh
 		yeah
 		actually i um
 		my my work is to advise families in finding care for their elders
 		and sometimes that means getting in all kinds of community resources to the home whether it's Meals-on-Wheels or uh home help aids or whatever
 		but when somebody is looking for care i recommend that they look for something that's uh
 		has more than one level
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		that it's not just an independent living facility