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Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

oregonlive.com

191–200 of 227 posts

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#191
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a solution. The problem is that emergency services aren't always available to those who need them; if you attach the possibility of a fee to the service then you have ensured that problem exists forever.

The problem of availability already exists because emergency services are abused on non-emergencies this stops those abuses freeing it up for real emergencies, no person no-matter how poor is going to balk at using an emergency service on an actual emergency cuz maybe they get charged 5 bucks if its not "emergency enough"

If it's 5 bucks then it's not going to stop care homes calling them either. If you look at the numbers being thrown around in these discussions we're talking about maybe 5k or more, which can definitely be a life-changing amount for a poor person.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#192

Senior homes and assisted living centers are a national disgrace. They are entirely about profit maximization (what business isn’t?), and as such hire people at the exact minimum and have well over 100% yearly turnover. The staff commonly steal from residents, and the management do not care. They’d rather retain a larcenous pig who barely executes her duties than have to go back and scrape the barrel for a replacemen…

And these are precisely the people we just shut down the global economy (and culture, and inter-personal connection) to apparently "protect".

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#193
Should note that publicly managed institutions may not necessarily be better. We have the most generous support policy here in Quebec, Canada and as a result we have the highest share of elderly living in homes, i.e. because it's easier to put them in there, they end up in there, and they're not necessarily very well managed.

I think we might need some basic regulatory policy on this with respect to wages, conditions, protections for residents as well as frankly maybe a different cultural look. We are bad at the later in North America and getting worse - lacking any cultural context as an established basis for these things, and moving ever more away from that, our discussions end up being about legalities and rights as opposed to issues about what is culturally normal.

Denmark apparently has a pretty good system for this, homes are small, local i.e. highly communitarian orientation.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The necessary innovation is ethical/political. People over age 80 should be able to request to medically cease their life for any reason.

You can buy gun. Why do you have to request anything?

Ethical self-driven euthanasia requires a lot more than just "buy a gun"

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This snarky reply isn't a rebuttal of any substance. A frivolous call-out fee is a clear and simple solution. If you fix the price then the problem goes away because the incentive for the frivolous call-out no longer exists. It's cheaper for them to hire another staff member than rely on the fire department.

No really. Turning a public service into a fee-based means-tested public/private program is the basic neoliberal program. The polices are always put forward with the rubric that the so-called free market is the best way to solve problems of distribution and fairness. To used a tired example, https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/10/11/libertarian-fire-dep...

[deleted]

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#196
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a home sharing company for older/younger pairs that I know of (not affiliated, had a friend work there for a while) https://www.silvernest.com/ Interesting take on it, imo.

Silvernest is more of a roommate matching service for old folks. Not so much for pairing young and old.

Hmmm. I just looked through it and, yes, it appears to be a roommate matching service, irrespective of age.

But looks like it is aimed at helping folks age in place: "If you can't swing a forever home and you still want to stay where you are, you may need an alternative source of income. And an increasingly popular one…is home sharing. Silvernest, a home-sharing service for older homeowners that matches them with roommates..."

When I first heard about it, I remember being told the focus was on young/old matches, but maybe they pivoted or I misremember.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#197
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of availability already exists because emergency services are abused on non-emergencies this stops those abuses freeing it up for real emergencies, no person no-matter how poor is going to balk at using an emergency service on an actual emergency cuz maybe they get charged 5 bucks if its not "emergency enough"

If it's 5 bucks then it's not going to stop care homes calling them either. If you look at the numbers being thrown around in these discussions we're talking about maybe 5k or more, which can definitely be a life-changing amount for a poor person.

Then don't fine poor people. Fine private care homes only as was suggested elsewhere in this thread. In the article it explains that they're only considering a fee for facilities, not for individuals.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#198
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with some automated appliances/thoughtful redesigns Can you give some examples? I guess I can start: something that monitors gas cookers, which already exists: iguardfire.com

> I guess I can start: something that monitors gas cookers, which already exists: iguardfire.com Induction stoves are the much better option here. They will only heat up ferromagnetic material (i.e. actual pots and pans) and most can sense when nothing is on them and turn off automatically.

True, but that's a much bigger purchase I guess, and many ppl would prefer gas if that's what they are used to.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#199

Senior homes and assisted living centers are a national disgrace. They are entirely about profit maximization (what business isn’t?), and as such hire people at the exact minimum and have well over 100% yearly turnover. The staff commonly steal from residents, and the management do not care. They’d rather retain a larcenous pig who barely executes her duties than have to go back and scrape the barrel for a replacemen…

> Elderly people should live with their families. No. It’s an unreasonable burden to expect families, which are barely holding themselves together in this wonderful world of mandatory-two-income-households we’ve built, to take on not only their adult children who can’t afford to rent or buy their own homes, but also the extensive and expensive care of their elders.

The best thing about the pandemic was working from home. It allowed me to move in and care for my father-in-law for the last 6 months of his life. If I had been commuting, the stress of everything would have probably killed my wife

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#200
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The US can barely afford to school its children You're the richest nation on earth. You can afford it, the people who control the purse strings choose to use it on other shit that benefits themselves.

Humor me, by what measure is the US the richest nation on earth, or even close? Anything per capita will be dominated by Monaco/other tax havens. Anything on a gross level will be dominated by China.

There are large countries (India, China). There are rich countries (Germany, Japan, the UK). The US is the only large, rich country.
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