The Gerontologist 44:856 (2004)
© 2004 The Gerontological Society of America
DIVERSITY AND ETHNICITY IN HOUSING AND LONG-TERM CARE
Robert E. Yahnke
yahnk001{at}umn.edu
The two videos reviewed below, Sunset Pink Villa: A Home for Gay and Lesbian Elders and Long Shadows: Stories from the Jewish Home, reflect a common desire to make living conditions—either in apartment or long-term-care settings—safe, secure, and comfortable for elders. The goal is to foster a sense of community and to make aging in place personally meaningful to people who share common values, ethnicities, or experiences. The first video portrays the creation of an apartment community dedicated to gay and lesbian elders in Holland. Viewers are introduced to some of the couples and individuals who have chosen this new housing option, and the video provides insights into the intolerance and persecution gays and lesbians have experienced. The second video takes viewers inside a Jewish Nursing Home in Melbourne, Australia. A note on this film, in the distributor's catalog, remarks that Melbourne has the largest population of Holocaust survivors, per capita, outside of Israel. Two couples and an old man are featured in the video. They share their stories, and they reveal to what extent they are adapting either to life in the nursing home—as a resident—or life as a caregiver of a resident in the home.
Both videos incorporate the important metaphor of home to make their case. That metaphor suggests a sense of belonging, a place of sanctuary, and a center for familial care and affection. Having a place "to call home" is an essential marker of successful aging; but sharing it with other people who have a keen understanding of what others in that housing context have experienced makes it all the more significant. Elder Care: The Swedish Choice (1990), reviewed in an earlier column in The Gerontologist (39, 2, 1999), also offers perspectives on senior housing that would complement the issues raised in the two videos reviewed in this column.
