Profit and Dignity can they go hand-in hand?
My heart breaks: Does dignity and profit really have to be polar opposite?
The Pandemic has highlighted many inequalities in our society. I have known of many of them before the Pandemic: the fact that our elderly care is a disaster and should scare everyone, because if you are blessed you will grow old and therefore perhaps live out your final years in an Old Aged Home.. When I was young my parents would take us to Nursing Homes, during the Holidays to visit relatives and friends. I was always struck by the unclean smell that would assault the senses as soon as you entered the premises. And it was terribly sad seeing all the loneliness that was etched on their faces. I found this unbearable and often tears would well up in my eyes. There were always people left alone in hallways in wheelchairs who would be trying to pull themselves along using the railing, or simply trying desperately to get to where some visitors had arrived, just so they could talk to someone.
Nursing Homes are under funded to the point of being considered a major disaster and a shame. During the current Covid19 Pandemic we have lost more people in Nursing Homes as compared to any other group in our society. My Uncle Diego passed away in one of Montreal’s long care facilities,where out of a population of forty five residents,thirty of them had succumbed to the virus. Diego was not even tested for Covid19 partly because of the lack of testing equipment and partly because it was decided that he was going to die anyway and the administration of the Covid19 test would just be a waste of limited resources. And when the final moments of him being alive, his wife had to beg to be with him in his last moments. Which made me wonder, during this pandemic, what is the priority? She had been with her husband for more than half her life. She was the only one allowed to go say her goodbye as their children had to watch on zoom. It's all so unreal to me, as to where our Society's priorities lie.
A very good friend of mine is finally able to see her mom who has advancing Dementia, but I found out yesterday that her mom’s situation during the isolation has deteriorated tremendously due to being isolated and not having any form of communication with a loved one, which was available before this Pandemic.
Currently in our society we are wondering whether old age care should be for profit, and therefore privatized. The very term “for profit” underlies where the priorities are going to be placed, and it is not in the care of our elderly. In other words the only purpose of Privatizing the long care facilities is greed for wealth. While thinking about long term care,I began to wonder if it really is a profit problem or just the way we treat elderly people in North American society as them being dispensable? We have day cares that are private, we don't tend to see deplorable conditions and wonder whether the kid will be alive the next time we pick them up.Same with schools for profit, great conditions!
In North America I think the problem is how we view aging. We simply see ageing as a burden on the individual and on society, as opposed to a treasured part that deserves all our love and respect and therefore dignity during their old age.. As we’ve seen in daycare's and private schools, dignity of a human life and a profit can go-hand in hand.
