Old folk's homes in Canada and Ukraine

As a boy in a small town in Canada, I remember the old folk's home where older people lived, I visited my great grandmother at this place. As a boy, I remember walking in it was a bit dark and had a smell of cleaning products, and I don't know what else. We made our way down a long hall to great grandmothers room. Knocked on the door and she opened and invited us in. It was like a mini-hotel room. It had a bed and a bathroom with a small desk area and a window looking out to the green grass. With no real place to sit down, we moved back out of the building to a bench out front where the family spoke, and after a short time, we left.

As a young entrepreneur, I remember hearing a good idea of investing in these homes as the county would need a lot of them, as the demographic clearly showed. I did not like my experience as a child visiting my great grandmother and so declined to get involved. For me, I need to have an agreement within to proceed.

Having traveled a lot, I saw different cultures treat grandparents differently, and here in Ukraine, for the most part, grandparents are part of the family. They live with you, and they contribute to the everyday life of being a family. There can be a lot of frustration and lack of understanding, but through all in all things are worked out.

Back to Canada, when one is older and needs help, 99% of families choose these old folk's homes to care for grandparents. Cost are all over the map; inexpensive could be $8500.00 Canadian or $ 6,000.00 USD or $162,000.00 UAH per month. Now this includes a room as described, three meals a day, lots of other people like you around them, and often a couple of nurses caring for 150 people. They wash your bed once a week, and you live. If you need help to shower, you get in the queue. Meals are ready for a couple of hours in the dining hall 7 am -9 am breakfast 11 am – 1 pm lunch 5 pm – 7 pm dinner all cafeteria-style dining, grab your tray and plate and get it filled sit and eat! Now, most families try to visit twice per year but more seem to visit only once per year.

You may say, why are the children of these older people so rude? The answer, it is the culture, most families both mother and father work out of the home to provide for the costs of living and have no time for grandparents. More than 60% are single mothers and fathers, and most work two jobs to pay the bills. There simply is no time for the caring of grandparents, and any time mothers and fathers do have is dedicated to the kids, who by most standards arrive home from school with no parent near as they are working for another three hours or more.

Life in Canada is not freedom. It offers the opportunity to join the ranks of most and merely scrape out a living, paycheck by paycheck.

In Ukraine, many grandparents live with their families. Grandparents are around every aspect of life. Family helps grandparents when they need it. As young people see how we look after grandparents, they learn the importance of being kind to grandparents as one day we will all be grandparents. The more significant issue in Ukraine is having enough earnings to pay for food and the basics. Cash is very tight in most households. Unfortunately, many grandparents are in the street trying to sell a few little odds and ends. The funds on top often provide food for the grandparent.

So, there you have it. Live is not easy anywhere.

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