Aid for Old People
Sul,—The letter in your issue of March 21st from the Chairman of the Central Council for District Nursing in London prompts me to cite a case of hardship, which is probably typical of many, in the hope that some of your readers may be able to offer practical suggestions.
An old lady of 80, very deaf and almost blind but otherwise so far in ,reasonably good health, has recently become subject to occasional black-outs in the course of which she is liable to fall and injure herself. It may be that some partial paralysis of the brain is setting in, but, whatever the cause, the-doctor has said that the old lady may no longer be left unattended, i.e. alone in the house, at any time. This old lady has no means other than her old-age pension, and lives with her only (unmarried) daughter, who has to be away from home all day while she is earning her living as a secretary. She cannot afford the fees for a nursing-home, nor can she afford to continue for very long the tem-
porary arrangement she has perforce adopted of paying a help a week to keep watch over her mother during the day.
Can anyone say what is the solution of this distressing problem ? I imagine it is rather outside the scope of the District Nursing Service.— Yours faithfully, T. J. CLARKE. 2 Stanhope Road, Wdfthainstow, E.17.
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