You take a left while driving down the main road in a quiet Rockville suburb. Construction and new home sites mainly occupy the area, but in the distance, a naturistic setting appears. Apartment homes and a large chapel stand amid falling autumn leaves. Here is where the peaceful environment of the Village at Rockville, a senior living community, lies.
Senior living centers are residences where senior citizens reside in order to receive care and live in companionship with others. In the United States, they are seen as places where elderly citizens live when they need assistance for day-to-day tasks or if a family cannot suffice to take care of an elder family member. The Administration for Community Living states that about 60 percent of older adults “will need assistance with things like getting dressed or driving to appointments.” When situations like such arise, assisted living is usually the solution for providing personal care to citizens.
However, there is undeniably some stigma around assisted living facilities. Most of this stigma is a result of people’s misinformed beliefs or a lack of research on living centers. In a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, three main notions that promote this stigma are the “physical environment, staff training and multilevel settings.” Some may assume that citizens in living centers are lonely and people are confined without a social environment or that staff are untrained. The transition between multilevel settings, when a senior transitions between different intensities of health-related care (especially in nursing homes), and how the center deals with events like this also contribute to the perception of senior homes having a dull aura.
The significance of senior living centers is hindered by this stigma, and even generally, these types of homes are not shown to be very important in society. Nonetheless, they do play a role in growing communities.
According to the Village at Rockville’s website, “independent living, assisted living, memory care, and long-term care” are provided at the center. The Village at Rockville mainly helps serve those with disabilities and the need for medical assistance, which impacts the concept of societal aging (where the economic, demographic, societal effects of the older generation is analyzed).
In a recent statement by The National Institute of Aging, several research points and goals about the impacts of societal aging were expressed. One research goal was to understand how societal aging could impact the health of elderly citizens. It is shown that, “educational attainment is one of the strongest correlates of physical health” and that the ability for governments and communities to “provide adequate resources for older adults,” is impacted by societal aging. Senior living centers, like the Village at Rockville, apply both of these conceptions and make indirect – yet significant – impacts on our community by assisting senior citizens with medical needs and a friendly environment to nourish their health—which can also influence family structure. Overall, the profoundness of senior living centers leads to a chain of other impacts on our population.
Richard Montgomery High School freshman Ellen Bu has been involved with volunteering at the Village in past years. “Senior centers are a great way for younger generations to connect with the elderly. There are several great programs and partnerships that senior centers have.” Bu reminiscences on making handcrafted items for the center through a school club and how “it was a great way for [her] to connect with [the residents] despite the pandemic.”
Senior living centers help bridge the gap between the youth and elderly. This can be through volunteer programs or through even connections between staff and residents. In an article by Senior Living News, Amanda Cavaleri, who is a founder of an organization that desires to encourage youth to pursue jobs in aging services, believes that “older generations are the world’s largest wasted resource” despite having the “greatest potential to benefit future generations.” Both the youth and elderly are benefitted from these interactions as Gen Z individuals especially can be motivated to make impacts on assisted living industries in the future, and for the elderly to be a mentor to youth.
Physical and emotional stability are all catered to residents in senior living homes. With less isolation and a good-natured environment, seniors can have purpose and impact others’ lives, whether it be youth, staff or their family. These impacts must be acknowledged and are needed in today’s society.
Written by Pragna Pothakamuri of Thomas S. Wootton High School
Artwork courtesy of Rudy Essiomle of Thomas S. Wootton High School