Reader’s Opinion | An elderly person with multiple illnesses cannot manage alone at home

I am a retired physiotherapist and I have observed the reality of care for the elderly in the acute department of a hospital in Helsinki for a few days now as a patient with acute trauma. The nurses do their best, and basic care is fine despite the rush.

But here there are several confused, amnesiac old people whose place is no longer at home. Still, their repatriation is planned. Elderly people who frequently fall and are confused put a burden on hospitals. I even saw an old man in the hospital who, completely confused and paranoid, removed his stoma. He didn’t have a nursing home yet.

Elderly people with multiple illnesses may have assets that could be used for good care in a nursing home. Where did the thinking come from, that the place of care for the elderly must be the home, even though a multi-ill and confused elderly living alone is a danger to themselves and the environment? Fires caused by the elderly are not exactly rare.

The number of national nursing home places in relation to the number of elderly people with multiple illnesses is one of the most important decisions that social security regions will have to make soon. When the elderly are cared for safely and well in nursing homes, basic and specialized medical care is less burdened. This should be obvious to the politicians who create the big elderly care lines.

Physiotherapist, retired

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