Nursing Home Visits (NHV)

by Sharing, Enriching & Tending (SET) Group

Springtime, 2005, at St. Elizabeth NH. Mary, the lady facing us, knows almost every song we sang. Some elderly wear constant smiles, even though they may suffer from constant discomfort or pain. Mary belongs to this type. Tim was sitting behind the beat-up piano.

We visit nursing homes, and present music programs to the residents. These programs include, primarily singing songs, occasionally dancing and music instrument playing.

Nursing home residents are senior citizens who are fragile, have wrinkled faces, and sometimes are wheelchair-bound. They are a group of people who have lost their attractiveness in the eyes of the society. Thus, they are lonely.

If a society only exalts and adores the young, but does not tend its senior citizens properly, this society is not healthy. The reason is quite simple. In an exaggerated manner, let us say that, in a certain society, a person is dumped into the lake when she/he reaches 70 years of age.

Young members witness, and are aware of, such a practice. They know also that one day they will age, too. Can they live a secure, happy life?

If you believe in the positive effects of nursing home visits, and have paid the visits yourself in the past or in the present, you are one of us, regardless where you live.