Attitudes Toward the Elderly

The Times Valley Edition is to be commended for its editorial “The Elderly Belong Too,” (Sept. 27).

Over the summer, as I drove up and down Densmore Drive, I saw the hateful signs that blanketed the neighborhood. I wondered about the condition of the souls of people who could so passionately protest against six elderly Alzheimer’s patients living on their block. These signs and the attitude they reflect are no different from signs of another era: “No Blacks or Jews Welcome Here.”

Don’t these young, healthy, beautiful people on Densmore realize that one day they their parents or their children will be elderly, sick and no longer pretty?

Most of us are taught, by our rabbis and priests, a few basic and universal rules of humility: To honor the elderly, to care for the sick and to do unto others as you would like done unto yourself. Perhaps those who have spent so much energy ensuring that six elderly people will not be welcome in their neighborhood would benefit from a few more sessions of Sunday school!

JANICE KAMENIR-REZNIK, Encino

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My knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease comes from caring for my late father, from my training and experience as a gero-psychologist and from having spent the past 13 years volunteering for the Los Angeles Alzheimer’s Assn.

First, the neighbors on Densmore in Encino who are opposed to the residential home for Alzheimer’s elderly are good people who must not understand that these are ideal neighbors. They are quiet, well-supervised and always home, a good safety feature. At most they will see a quiet older person walking down the street with a paid, trained worker or a family member. The most cars that would be on the street would be six, if all the relatives came to visit at one time, which would rarely happen.

Second, the neighbors are concerned about the business aspect of the home. I’ve heard one Densmore neighbor complain that the home is too lucrative a business with high rates, but this makes it a potentially a “high-end” home, which would attract more financially stable and responsible families. Higher rates probably mean better care of the elderly and of the home and potential enhancement of property values.

Third, there will possibly be little traffic but there will also be little disturbance. Most people who place their older relatives in such a place want a small, quiet place with personal attention. If I were to choose which kind of neighbor I would prefer, between a young family with several teenagers having loud parties on weekends, with all their friends’ cars lining the street, or a six-bed residential home for the elderly, I would choose the latter. As the Densmore residents get to know these new neighbors, they will be grateful for their presence.

The final and most important point about the problem of where to put the elderly is that we as a society do not want to have to look at our own possible frail futures. We aging baby boomers want to pretend that aging can be prevented, and to see it in our neighborhood is to face ourselves. Alzheimer’s disease in particular is the boogie man who cannot be prevented from coming in the night to destroy all our good prevention efforts. No matter what the ostensible issues in this debate, our wish to deny our human frailty as personified by the elderly is the root of the conflict.

AMY GROSS, Tarzana