The Money Question

The Money Problem. I came across this article about Aged Care in Australia.

In summary this article shows that whilst Aged Care is supposedly funded mostly by the government's (err Tax Payers') deep pockets, there is no money to be made in Aged Care. This is the biggest & the saddest problem.

For many aged care workers, it is depressing and exhausting to be around people who are deemed to be dying. Many older people are despondent - they have physical and mental pain. They have pain when they move and have little energy to help themselves. The workers in aged care facilities in many Western and industrialised nations suffer through physical exhaustion of having to carry people and mental anguish on top of their own personal pressures that isn't helped by their meager salaries.

Aged care facilities require huge operating budgets in order to be secure, safe and comfortable for the elderly.  Aside from all these physical requirements, there are also medical requirements that are akin to having an in-house health care facility. However, the salaries of health care providers in aged care facilities are nothing compared to the highly paid doctors and clinicians servicing the public and private hospitals.  This means that there's not much skill and talent running after the aged care jobs.

At this stage, I have 2 ways of addressing these issues:

1. Firstly, that families bear the costs and care of their elderly - as part of the process of life, the circle of life. Yes it's extra responsibility. Yes I know it's costly. However, there's no other better place for the elderly to be surrounded by their loved ones who care a lot for them. Imagine young parents preparing a baby's room: Toys are bought, cribs, security camera, baby bottles, linen, baby proofing doors and cabinets and power outlets... these preparations could be applied to "Elderly Room".  So as much as there's an expectation to care for babies at the start of their life, it would now be high time to create this expectation going forward if we want to assist in our elderly's transition towards the end of their lives.

I'm not including rules and qualifications here. Each family could or may determine their level of responsibility for their elderly. However, ultimately, I think there would be an intergenerational sense of responsibility ... members of a family are aware earlier on that they have a responsibility to secure a useful and efficacious life to receive the love and care of their young whilst they are able. The circle of life, the responsibility of a person within a family.

I'm also not including the public funding and government policy on aged care assistance. These initiatives can exist on their own or other private institutions could contribute. I'm merely stipulating a change of thinking. Currently, in the west, 18 is the age of independence... wherein young adults are free to live on their own and care for themselves. There's no expectation to give back. This line of responsibility is not very clear in Asian countries. However it's becoming more common in Asia, too.  

2. My second solution, of course, is to use information, media and education to make people aware of the Aged Care problem. There is an Aged Care crisis. However, not enough attention is given to it.  This is the purpose of my blog. I share my journey as I educate myself on aged care for the people I love... for those who offered a large portion of their lives to me. Hopefully, this blog would help people understand the needs of our elderly. 

Now hopefully, I could come up with the answer to the "money problem". This will definitely expedite my information drive.