Caring For Old Folks

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28700, 25 September 1958, Page 3

Caring For Old Folks

Sir,—The Dean of Christchurch is reported to have said: “People these days don’t care for their old folk at home. . . . We’ve improved on that We put them in institutions, and tell our friends how necessary it was.” The implication is that a sense of family responsibility is lacking in these days. But is that true, and is it quite fair to the present generation? If there is an apparent lack of concern, may that not be partly attributable to the modern type of house, and the' conditions in which we live today? Are not the aged often far happier living among their own generation than in the.homes of their children? Furthermore, is it not a fact that social service associations today provide not “institutions,” but “homes” where the ageing can live semi-independent lives in congenial surroundings, and with a specialised care that even the best home is often unable to supply?—Yours, etc., JUVENIS. September 23, 1958.

Sir, —The Very Rev. Martin Sullivan said people these days do not care for the old folk. The editor of “The Press” is one of the worst offenders. He will not print letters on the aged benefit— Yours, etc., FAR BACK DAN. September 21, 1958.