If you've never worked in a nursing home, you can imagine, but don't know the half if it. It's heartbreaking they're put in that general situation in the first place, then downright criminal how theyre neglected and sometimes abused by the corporate operators of those places who put profits above everything. Its pretty horrifying.

You were doing God's work as a child, haha, that's great.

So my general thought or understanding is in the US, nursing homes are basically a drop off building for the old because the majority of residents have family that could actually take care of them if they wanted or were determined to. Most of the care they need most of the time isn't acute, and its very manageable.

Outside the US, or at least the West, as far as I know nursing homes aren't really even a thing. That is, the elderly are respected and valued and cared for by their entire family, they just make it work. Thats why most of the direct caregivers, at least in my area, are Asian and Hispanic. Generally their culture wouldn't even allow you to put an elder in a home, As a Filipina nurse told me, it would be "shameful" to do where she came from, the community would look down on you.

You're exactly right, in my experience lonliness in the nursing home was probably the most common "ailment" among long term residents. I honestly think some died of lonliness, they just sort of gave up.

The saddest were parents who's kids would literally just drop them off and never be seen again, even if they lived in the area. It's one thing and bad enough to not have any family, but another to have family and they won't even visit you--I mean not even during the holidays. Most of them use the excuse that its too hard/depressing on them (the family) to visit a nursing home. Well what do they think its like being there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without even having the choice to leave?

Worked several years in a nursing home and can confirm how much some of the long term residents were attached to their stuffed animals, it was both sweet and kind of sad to be honest.

One elderly woman had a white stuffed poodle she always had with her in her wheelchair. We also happened to have a gentleman who'd bring in a white poodle service dog that the residents could pet and interact with, they loved it--especially some if the really older folks who had some memory or cognative issues. It brought them to life and put smiles in their faces. The dog eventually got old/sick and the owner couldn't bring him in anymore. One day I went into the cafeteria where he'd normally have the dog, and there was the lady with her white stuffed poodle animal with about three other residents around her and she was sharing it so they could pet it. One of the ladies who had dementia was holding it like a baby and petting it so sweetly and sincerely while the others looked on I just started crying. They just needed that connection so bad it broke my heart.