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As a former nurse,I think that professional care is vital to improve the level of care given to our older citizens. Family input is very important, but it is more important that the needs of the older individual are met. It is also important that the caring family is educated and supported properly by health care professionals.

If an older person needs care,the implication is that they are too ill to care for themselves. Can all families handle medication, monitor nutrition and recognize the early signs of health problems? Some families can. However my heart has often been broken by unnecessary admissions to hospital because of severe constipation, dehydration, lethargy and confusion. Often, these symptoms could have been prevented by close observation of the older person's fluid intake. Loving families are often unable to provide the care necessary. They need the support and education of professionals to provide for their older members needs.

It would be nice if every family was like the "Walton's". It would be nice if several generations could live together with relatively little conflict. However, I have witnessed cases of financial, physical and emotional abuse of the elderly within apparently respectable families. I have also witnessed older individuals using their illness to dominate and control the lives of their middle aged children. The emotional dynamics of care are fraught with problems even within the most well meaning of families. The practical requirements of care are no longer passed down through the generations. How many individuals in a modern family know how to lay out the dead? Independent professionals who can provide support and respite care when necessary can prevent and relieve the stress often felt by carers.

Finally the wishes of the person who requires care should be respected in as far as is financially and physically possible. Caring for another person is a privilege. The final years open windows on life and death that enrich us all. It is especially satisfying if the person in our care can cross the final threshold with a peaceful smile on their face. Knowing that you have given them what they needed and wanted can help to create that precious smile. Professional input can help families to do this without suffering from the resentment, stress and burnout that constant caring can create.

On balance, the care of an older person in this medical age should have input from professionals. The involvement of the family can be vital or detrimental to the family and the senior citizen depending on the support they receive. It is a nice and rather naive notion that a senior citizen should be cared for by the family alone. I prefer the more old fashioned notion that families caring for an infirm member should receive help and support from useful members of their community.

Learn more about this author, Eileen Oconnor.
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