Safety and Autonomy

How do families distinguish between the need to allow their parents an autonomous existence verses the prevention of a broken hip? Maintaining freedom and dignity is essential in high morale among the aging. Some assisted living centers have their facilities built around a community kitchen. Residents are allowed to take out or put in any sort of food they want. Some places also allow alcohol. Small steps toward letting the aging make the kinds of choices they want for their lives without a doctor’s intervention means more to them than those not in their predicament could ever express.