BBC: Middle Ages Got it Right for Elder Care With Focus on Integration, Community

Despite the Middle Ages often getting referred to as the “Dark Ages,” people in that era got at least one thing right: elder care, by incorporating their seniors into the community at large and promoting multigenerational interaction, according to a BBC News article.

British actor and presenter Tony Robinson shared his thoughts on his country’s elder care system after spending a week in a residential care home in England for a BBC television documentary. 

BBC News reports:

Advertisement

“When you’re in an old people’s home… everything is regulated, it has to be, but it is a huge price to pay and one that I came to the conclusion, I couldn’t bear to pay,” [he said]. 

[Robinson] would also like to see a change in the attitude of our society, encouraging further strategies around support for elderly people in their own homes and greater communication and collaboration between the residents of nursing homes and members of the public.

Drawing on an example from history, Robinson claims we can learn something from the Middle Ages.

Advertisement

“There was much more interaction,” he says, between hospitals, hospices and the rest of the community in those times. “You look at the architecture of those places… the people were far more incorporated into society.”

When it comes to elderly care, he believes that a new outlook would inspire new ideas.

However, Robinson also acknowledged that some care homes for the elderly can have a lot to offer, and can be crucial to supporting residents who need a certain level of care. 

Read the full piece here.

Written by Alyssa Gerace