Letters to the editor - Letter to the Editor

Nursing Homes, Oct, 2003

Dear Editor:

I have often had the same thought as your editorial expressed ("The Rock 'n' Roll Conundrum," August 2003, p. 4). My fear is not that my generation (I was born in 1953) won't have our own music to listen to when we reach the nursing home, but that it will be performed by the same second-rate guitar strummers who have "entertained" my facilities for the past 20 years. I just cringe at the thought of some of these entertainers trying to master "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones.

Bill McGinley, Executive Director

Whitney Place Assisted Living Residence

Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center

Natick, Massachusetts

Dear Editor:

I just read your August editorial on WMKV in Cincinnati, and your final statement left me with the thought of, "Here we go again--another generational conflict to go through in our lifetime." I think it's going to be fun to watch this develop, so everyone needs to strap in and enjoy the trip. All these human conflicts are what make life so interesting and keep me going to work every day to see what new development will come into play.

Tere Bradwell, Administrator

Wortham Rehabilitation Center

Wortham, Texas

Dear Editor:

Regarding the issues that arise in providing music in long-term care facilities and the nostalgia factor: In the 1940s we had 10% of the music exposure that we have today. While there were perhaps five musical genres in the 1940s, today there are 300. Music, once accessible only through live performance, radio, or the movie house, is now omnipresent. However, while music seems to be equally available to all of us, neither our lives nor our music are equal. Depending on the shopping center we live near, our education and economic status, and our personal backgrounds, our musical experiences will be dramatically different.

That forces the first question: Whose music should dominate in an increasingly diverse resident population, and to what end? And the second question: Do the experience and meaning of the music of our youth hold up over a lifetime? Will our 80-year-old ears hear what they heard the way they heard it when they were 18, or 20, or 30? Will we be able to understand the rhythmic and excited words of hip-hop in 30 years? Over a facility public address system?

A couple of personal examples: As a performing musician, I played Elton John's "Your Song" for my brother's wedding. He went through a divorce two years later. Thirty years have since passed. What kind of feelings would that song evoke today? My mother used to sing "Paper Moon" to me as a young child, when I was ill with scarlet fever. She died 20 years ago. While comforting at the time, how would the music make me feel today?

The situation is more complicated than one might think, and perhaps it is really about variety and pacing, good programming, and balancing the old with the new. But, personally, I have had little luck with nostalgia.

Susan E. Mazer, President/CEO

Healing HealthCare Systems

Reno, Nevada

Dear Editor:

After reading Denis O'Connor's article ("Don't Forget the Kitchen!" July 2003, p. 22) regarding outsourcing food service, I had to respond. I was quite taken aback by the unflattering way in which contract food service was depicted. I am a contract director and have been for 20 years. I have worked for three different companies during that time, and I have also spent several years as a self-op director. In my current facility, I am treated as one of the staff. I do every duty the same as the self-op directors--I work the weekend schedule the same as the other directors; I attend all facility in-services; I watch the facility's money very carefully; and I have been able to reduce the facility's food budget considerably. I have complete freedom to change menus to suit our residents' tastes, and I have revamped our dining program on my own to enhance the dining experience for our residents (e.g., our weight loss issues have all but disappeared). The food service staff respects me and considers me part of the team. The only difference is that my paycheck comes from a different place.

Mr. O'Connor states, "The bottom line with self-op is the ability to be flexible," but isn't that what I have just described here? Perhaps Mr. O'Connor's experience with outsourced food service has been limited. In fact, we have the same challenges, goals, and financial constraints as he does. And, as it turns out, the administration of our facility is proud of what my department and I have achieved. It is viewed as quite a marketing tool to show off our new dining program and the fact that weight loss is not an issue.

Beth Hauser, CDM, CFPP

Director of Food and Nutrition

(Name and location of facility withheld by request)