What is the old, only person when his health fails, the income is limited, and they can no longer stay in their apartment or house? They find themselves in a very difficult position, which makes them dependent on others for their care. These are some of the people who can fall through the cracks of the “system” because they have no one to protect when they move around the system.
I have three questions that are very difficult for me to answer.
1) Who are these lonely people?
Single people are everywhere, and often we never think about them. They are a widow, a widow, divorced men and women who never marry, and men and women who never married. Often they live very calmly and unassumingly. Invisible to many of us, because, for the most part, they never draw attention to themselves. They are engaged in their business, not wanting to attract attention, always paid their bills, worked for years, perhaps in the same company. For years, individuals have been vital members of our community, paid rent, taxes, and never wanted to be a burden to anyone.
Then they suddenly turn old! There incomes are limited and fixed. Pensioners with a small pension or without a pension, most of them live monthly on their social security. Any savings they may have is slowly used to keep up with monthly expenses that their social security does not cover. Health insurance is minimal and not always the best quality. Rent, food, medicine and daily cost of living exceed what they receive on a monthly basis.
Happy senior single has a family that is close and active in their life. These families can advocate for them and help them navigate the bureaucracy. Ensuring that they receive the services that are available to them, and, when necessary, family members will help one senior financially to help preserve the senior life in the quality of life they deserve and what they want.
2) What happens to an old man who has no family to watch over them?
They tend to become invisible. Disappearing from the main stream of life buried in their apartments and houses, emergency medical care appears until one day. When this happens, they get on the radar screen, the case number and the responsibility of some people to cope with them. Usually, someone is overloaded with work and stuck in a maze of rules and regulations that guide their every action. Very rarely, they meet their clients as they were before they became old and sick. They only look at current facts.
These singles pass through the system, and if they are not physically and mentally able to stand up themselves, they simply exist. They will most likely have to move from their homes to older public housing. Day-to-day life, entering and leaving hospitals until the end of their lives. What a sad existence.
3) How can this happen in the United States?
These people are our responsibility. Why should they be stored in boring state senior housing? Why are their housing vouchers not available for older people to live in pleasant and spacious living spaces? They live and work all their lives, and these are not the rewards they deserve. Congregation and cohabitation is a viable opportunity for single elderly people. There should be a sensible and more pleasant arrangement that can be made for people in this situation.
The problem is here and now, and currently available solutions are not very acceptable. The challenge for baby boomers and generations X and Y is to come up with cost-effective housing to accommodate all older people, regardless of their economic situation in life. We all have the right to a clean and pleasant home to live and take care of dignity and grace.
