[Music: Group of elderly people singing "Smiles"]

[Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Office for the Aging presents]

[The Rights of Age, A Mental Health Film Board Production]

[Photography: Roger Barlow, Editing: Peter Hansen, Original Music: Jeremy Steig]

[Consultants: Elias S. Cohen, M. Ralph Kaufman M.D., Alberta Jacoby, Glen Driver]

[Singing:] There are smiles that have a tender meaningThat the eyes of love alone may see,

[An affiliated film written and directed by Irving Jacoby]

[Singing:] But the smiles that fill my life with sunshineAre the smiles that you gave to me

[Narrator:] For most Americans over 65 there is plenty to sing about

in this golden age for golden-agers.

Many of the old age benefits that were social theories

or political promises 30 years ago are realities today.

A nationwide social security system has reduced the threat of hunger and want in the declining years.

Special senior housing facilities are available in scores of our communities.

And now Medicare provides some help in dealing with the illness and accidents that are part of growing old.

Clubs for the elderly are functioning in thousands of American towns

in community houses, and churches, and in housing projects.

Older people are making friends, taking lessons, creating things,

working and playing as human beings of all ages must do to keep alive.

For busy people have no time to concentrate on their arthritis,

their weakened hearts, nor on the disappointments of their lives.

With the tea and coffee there is the more important stimulation of companionship,

protection against the most awful affliction of old age, loneliness.

Why then at the climax of such sweeping social change

are so many older people still suffering from neglect?

How have we lost what experts estimate is over a million aged Americans,

people like Leona Vickery.

Mrs. Vickery has long been a widow living on her husband's small pension.

Many years ago her daughter died in childbirth. Her only son was killed at the Bulge.

She has no other relatives, no interests, nothing but her home.

She is proud of the house that her husband bought just before their son was born,

a tangible base for the family, a symbol of their independence.

It was a proud new house 50 years ago.

Now it too is tired, ailing, and neglected.

Year by year the taxes have increased until most of the pension is needed to pay them.

There is little money left for the repairs needed to keep the building in decent shape.

In fact, there is little money left for food or any of the other necessities of life.

Because of the house, Mrs. Vickery lives in poverty.

[Music]

[Doorbell rings]

Through the years her old friends have passed away or disappeared.

Now she does not go out or entertain.

Now a visitor can only be a building inspector or a tax assessor,

in short, an invader. [Doorbell rings]

Her home has become her castle and her prison.

[Neighbor:] I know she's in there. I saw her going in this morning at 7:00.

That's the only time she goes out, early in the morning, and late at night.

[Rattling door]

[Bill collector:] Is there any way I can get in here?

[Police officer:] I can't break in there without a warrant.

[Nurse:] I tried before, and I just can't get in. Is there something wrong?

[Bill collector:] No, I'm just trying to get a bill paid, that's all.

[Music]

[Narrator:] Mrs. Vickery is lost, because like many old people, she is hiding,

hiding from real and imagined dangers, hiding from possible attacks on her independence.

[Music]

She is managing to get along on her own,

a way of life she has lived with pride for 80 years,

but a way of life that has become empty, lonely, and almost without meaning.

[Music]

[...]

But not all of our lost elders remain hidden behind locked doors.

We can find them if we look for them

instead of looking through them as we walk the streets.

Some are in the sun, unnoticed, forgotten,

talking to themselves about their troubles.

[Music]

Others pound the pavements on tired, swollen feet.

These old people are nobody's business. No one is responsible for them.

They lurk in the corners of our cities,

seeking comfort in whatever person or by whatever means they can put their hands on.

They too are on their own.

[Music]

No one digs them out of the debris of their rooming houses or their dilapidated hotels.

Ignorance of the law, red tape, isolation, sheer weariness act as barriers between the aged and the services designed for them,

for no one is charged by the law to be concerned about them.

When they do have a little money or a few possessions,

they are potential victims of other people's avarice.

What price is exorbitant when you must pay for companionship?

Lonely old people are natural prey to their own needs.

And some old people are lost in clouds of their very own making.

One begins by forgetting names.

Then you forget faces, then you start talking to animals as you once talked to people.

As they become more real, the realities of the human world recede.

You remember to feed your charges, but you forget to eat yourself.

There are many ways of being lost.

[Music]

You can sit right in the city street and go unnoticed.

When you are old, it is easy to be passed by, passed over, passed up.

It doesn't even help if you speak up and ask for notice.

No one cares about your ideas or your opinions. Talk, shout, scream. Who listens to old women?

Nobody wants to get involved. She's enjoying her legal right to free speech and public abandonment.

[Music]

[Mrs. Vickery:] Help!

Help!

Get a doctor!

[Narrator:] The neighbor's little boy was the first,

and then came the medical emergency team,

and then the neighbors.

Mrs. Vickery's siege of seclusion was broken.

A physical accident is often the means of bringing deprived old people out into the open.

[Music]

Now all kinds of strangers begin crowding into her life.

Taken to the emergency room at the local hospital,

she is seen and questioned and cared for by a series of competent professionals.

She is no longer making her own decisions.

Her accident has given the community the right to help her.

And for a while, the fact that she is unable to walk makes it easier for this independent woman to accept the assistance of others.

As is usual in such cases, the chance to examine her medically leads to the discovery of conditions that have existed for a long time.

[Dr. Neumontin:] You seem a little pale, Mrs. Vickery. Have you noticed any change?

Do you feel weaker than you used to feel?

[...]

I'm going to have some tests made 'cause I have a feeling that you are a little anemic.

[Narrator:] The doctor's concern over her eating habits is not very well-received.

Mrs. Vickery has long since forgotten what it means to eat three meals a day.

But it isn't only medical and physical help that the hospital has to offer.

For the first time in her life, Mrs. Vickery meets a professional social worker.

[Ms. Lidey:] Are there any relatives in town?

I was wondering too if you might be concerned about meeting these medical expenses.

Do you have any Blue Cross?

[Mrs. Vickery:] [Sigh] No.

[Ms. Lidey:] Do you have any kind of insurance?

Did you sign up for Medicare?

[Mrs. Vickery:] l want to go home!

[Ms. Lidey:] Well, I know you'd like to go home, but I think you're going to be in the hospital for a while until this is fixed up.

[Music]

[Narrator:] For weeks, Mrs. Vickery received all kinds of services as her complex fracture mended.

Most important perhaps for her future health was her meeting with a social worker who represented the state Welfare Department.

Mrs. Vickery might become the state's responsibility after her release from the hospital.

Mrs. Monk wanted to get the welfare machinery rolling,

but after meeting her, she was quick to realize she mustn't press too hard.

[Mrs. Vickery:] What will happen to my house? I hope I don't lose my home!

[Mrs. Monk:] I wouldn't worry about that now.

We do everything we can to help people work out their lives the way they like.

We can discuss all the possible plans, and then you can come to a decision yourself when you understand it.

[Narrator:] The following weeks, Mrs. Vickery worked hard,

for to her recovery meant regaining her freedom,

going back on her own.

Stubbornly she took painful step after step in the hope that they would take her home.

[Dr. Neumontin:] I think she'll be partially weight bearing for another week,

and then she'll be able to get around,

but she'll need convalescent care for a period of time.

She's not only has a problem with her leg,

but she also has a general nutritional problem.

We found she was a little anemic,

and I think this dates back to her home conditions for some time now.

She's had inadequate diet,

and I think that may have been partially responsible for her fall.

[Ms. Lidey:] She's fighting nursing home, you know.

She wants to go from the hospital directly home.

We considered homemaker service to, you know, help with the meals,

and help with her personal care.

But this would leave her alone during the night, and she just isn't steady enough.

I think there's no alternative really to convalescent care.

[Mrs. Monk:] I think in this situation we would be able to pick up the cost of convalescent care,

and we could also help her file so that she would have Medicare coverage.

[Narrator:] At least it was clear now what Mrs. Vickery's immediate problems were,

and that is often step one in helping the aged who need protection.

[Mrs. Vickery:] I don't want any other home. I want to go to my own home.

[Mrs. Monk:] I know you do, but you have to give your foot time to get well,

because you want to be really strong before you start to walk around and be doing for yourself.

I've been talking with Ms. Lidey and with the doctor, and they both feel that you need another month anyway of medical care.

[Mrs. Vickery:] No, no, I don't want to stay here any longer.

[Music]

[Narrator:] Each older person has a different set of needs.

These women live on the edge of a slum that is to become a community center.

Where will they find new living quarters that they can afford?

How do they find peace in a world that is literally tumbling down around them?

Years ago, this man put his property in the name of his wife.

Now she has left him and become an alcoholic,

and now he has no money for the legal work needed to win him a share of his own savings.

This woman is sick, sicker than she looks,

but no one wants to threaten her with an examination.

No one wants to take away her freedom, so there is no one to call her illness by its right name.

[...]

No question, there comes a time when a man does have to get out of the driver's seat of a 10 ton earth mover,

but does that have to be the end?

Whose job is it to rehabilitate the elderly?

Mr. Riley has a soft touch.

He might be protected by declaring him incompetent to handle his own affairs,

but is he?

Is it so wrong at 90 to squander a dollar on a bottle of wine,

to use savings to buy dubious friendship?

Who has a right to judge morals?

The aged have rights, too,

rights that maybe trampled on by people who think they are helping.

Many of the aging in the convalescent home are glad to be there,

but Mrs. Vickery thinks of the clean, comfortable day room as a prison cell.

She does not mix with the other patients.

She simply lives for the day she can leave.

Dr. Neumontin who treated her in the hospitalcontinues to see her here.

She thinks he might have the key that will open the doors.

[Dr. Neumontin:] Are you getting around very well?

[Mrs. Vickery:] Yes, I can walk with a cane.

[Dr. Neumontin:] Do you need the assistance of the nurse?

[Mrs. Vickery:] No, no assistance.

[Dr. Neumontin:] Well, your leg is doing very well.

Your general condition is much improved from what it was before.

[Mrs. Vickery:] Now can I go home?

[Dr. Neumontin:] Well, you're a lot better than you were, but...

[Mrs. Vickery:] Well, I'll be careful. I'll manage.

[Dr. Neumontin:] I've been speaking to an attorney, and I've been speaking to Mrs. Monk,

and we're trying to do something to perhaps get a mortgage and fix up the house.

[Mrs. Vickery:] I can have a bedroom built downstairs.

[Dr. Neumontin:] But there are other problems in the house besides being upstairs or downstairs.

There's the heat, and there's the general condition,

and then there's the fact that you'll have to take care of your cooking and a lot of other things.

[Mrs. Vickery:] Well, I can't stay here forever.

[Dr. Neumontin:] Be patient.

[Narrator:] But patience is only easy for people who have time.

When you're 80 there's not much time for waiting.

[Music]

Mrs. Vickery's excursion did have one result.

It was thought she'd better be examined by Dr. Sullivan, a psychiatric colleague of Dr. Neumontin.

[Dr. Sullivan:] How long have your spirits been poor?

[Mrs. Vickery:] Well, a long time now.

[Dr. Sullivan:] About how long?

[Mrs. Vickery:] About 15 years.

[Dr. Sullivan:] What happened then?

[Mrs. Vickery:] I lost my husband.

[Dr. Sullivan:] And things haven't been the same since?

[Mrs. Vickery:] No.

[Dr. Sullivan:] But very recently have they gotten a lot worse?

[Mrs. Vickery:] No.

[Dr. Sullivan:] Has anyone been trying to harm you in any way?

[Mrs. Vickery:] No, uh, people have been very kind to me.

[Dr. Sullivan:] Right along or just recently?

[Mrs. Vickery:] Recently.

[Dr. Sullivan:] Uh-huh. How were they a whileback?

[Mrs. Vickery:] Well, um...

[Dr. Sullivan:] When you're at home?

[Mrs. Vickery:] When I was home, inspectors would come and bother me.

[Dr. Sullivan:] So you didn't let them in?

[Mrs. Vickery:] Sometimes I did.

[Dr. Sullivan:] There's a couple of other little things I'd like to ask you. How is your memory?

[Mrs. Vickery:] Not too good.

[Dr. Sullivan:] Are you able to remember my name, for example?

[Mrs. Vickery:] No. I forget names.

[Dr. Sullivan:] You forget names.

[Dr. Neumontin:] I had the psychiatrist interview Mrs. Vickery,

and while he found her a little depressed,

he didn't consider that there was anything in the range of a psychotic state.

[Narrator:] The physician, the lawyer, and the welfare worker,

these are the three specialists whose knowledge is often needed for the protection of the aged.

As our communities organize specialized services,

they will be called upon to function and cooperation, formally.

[Mrs. Monk:] Mr. Allen, you've seen Mrs. Vickery's house at Elm Street. What do you think of the property?

[Mr. Allen:] Well, the house is in disrepair,

and the appraisal which I had ordered revealed that would require a great deal of money to bring it up to par.

Accordingly, I think that the best interest of Mrs. Vickery

would be served by a possible sale of the premises.

This would give her an income for the rest of her days.

[Dr. Neumontin:] Do you think we ought to petition the probate court to appoint a conservator?

[Mr. Allen:] Well, at this particular time, doctor, I think it may be a little premature.

We might want to have a trustee appointed by Mrs. Vickery so that her property could be put in trust and managed for her.

[Narrator:] Every old person needing protective help is a special problem.

There are no formulas, no ready-made answers.

Solutions that fulfill health needs and psychological needs that are economically feasible

and that safeguard the old person's legal rights must be tailor-made for each individual.

Mrs. Vickery was lucky to have this trio interested in her case,

for in her community no law guarantees such thoughtful protection to the aged.

Mrs. Monk was apprehensive lest her desire to help the old woman lead to an infringement of her freedom

or to harmful effects on her personality.

[Mrs. Monk:] It seems that senior housing would be the best answer in her situation,

and I'll go along with you on that.

I'll try and talk with Mrs. Vickery, and if she agrees to it, then we have no problem.

If she doesn't, I'll come back to you gentlemen for your advice.

[Narrator:] The next day, Mrs. Monk went to sound out Mrs. Vickery.

[Mrs. Monk:] Did you win? [Mrs. Vickery:] No, I lost.

[Mrs. Monk:] Maybe tomorrow afternoon you'll have better luck.

[Mrs. Vickery:] Is there anything new about my house?

[Mrs. Monk:] Well, as a matter of fact we were talking about that last evening. I was with Dr. Neumontin, and Mr. Allen,

and we all came to the conclusion that right for now it doesn't seem like the best idea for you to be back there.

[Mrs. Vickery:] Why not?

[Mrs. Monk:] Well, Dr. Neumontin felt that the condition of the house isn't really practical or at all safe for you.

Now I know how you feel about it,

how it reminds you of the happy days when your husband was there, and your children,

but it also reminds you constantly that they're not there,

and it keeps pulling you back into the past instead of bringing new things into your life.

You still have a lot of strength and vitality, and there's so much that you could do that will give you pleasure,

and you still would keep all the best part of your former life with you.

[Mrs. Vickery:] If not on Elm Street, where would I go?

[Mrs. Monk:] Well, there's several possibilities.

One very nice place might be the senior housing on Greenwich Avenue.

That's right near the store, near the park,

and you could have your things with you.

What would be the pieces that you are most fond of that you'd like to take?

[Mrs. Vickery:] I would take my bed... and  George's comfortable chair.

[Narrator:] At last Mrs. Vickery is beginning to consider the possibility of a move.

Is her opposition only a formality now?

Does she realize her hopes had not been practical,

or has she just given in to the pressures that are being applied?

[Mrs. Monk:] These things we'll all be thinking over before any decision is necessary.

[Narrator:] For days after, Mrs. Vickery mulled the question over and over.

She discussed it with the volunteers and others whom she met at the convalescent home.

Finally, she decided to try it, at least for a period of six months.

But in some cases, the decision to accept the experts' plan is not made voluntarily.

Sometimes, medical and social requirements call for a solution that must be legally enforced.

It is never easy for the authorities to make a commitment.

But once every other possibility has been carefully explored and rejected for good reason, it is a humane and protective action.

Some old people are not unhappy in institutional settings,

especially when they are comfortable, protected from danger,

and can find ways of contributing to the group in which they live.

Often they find peace and a sense of safety in retiring from a world they no longer understand.

They are no longer forced to fight a battle that is beyond their endurance.

Still others prize a vantage point of their own front porches.

They want to know what is going on even if they can't take part in the action.

Some older people manage quite well on their own.

This man lives very comfortably by himself, now that a guardian protects him from greedy relatives.

Memories can take the place of action.

Old age can be a time for meditative pleasures.

But each person's solution is different.

These three old ladies are old friends.

They were once neighbors.

They enjoy telling each other their troubles, and they listen to each other sympathetically.

But one has a health problem,

another a housing problem.

The third can't get over the death of her husband.

So they have come to live according to very different patterns.

A good design for each life must be based on its own threads and colors.

In early September, Mrs. Vickery's new apartment was ready.

Question: Was Mrs. Vickery ready for senior housing?

[Music]

Mrs. Monk knew she had to let the new home speak for itself.

[Music]

[Narrator] Change is always hard,

and when one is helping someone else to change, one always has misgivings.

But we must believe in the strengths of those we help, as well as being aware of their handicaps.

Homemaking service was part of the plan that had been worked out for Mrs. Vickery,

but she wasn't one to sit by while someone else did the work.

[Home health aide:] Mrs. Vickery, dinner is almost ready.

And we'll find lots of things to do together. I'm sure we'll have lots of things in common.

[Mrs. Vickery:] Yes, I think so.

[Home health aide:] You'll see me. I'll be here three days a week and [inaudible]

Do you like to read?

[Mrs. Vickery:] I do like to read, but my eyes aren't good.

I... I must have them examined and get new glasses.

[Home health aide:] Well, I would love to read to you in the meantime, if you enjoy being read to.

[Mrs. Vickery:] I imagine I'd enjoy it very much.

[Narrator:] Mrs. Vickery was starting a new way of life, a planned way.

But millions of old people in America have no plans for the ends of their lives.

They have no one to care for them, to intercede for them,

no one to protect them.

They live all over our rich country.

They can be found in small towns and in rural areas,

in hidden corners of big cities,

in the slums, in the back alleys,

in the pool rooms, in the missions.

[Music]

They are vulnerable, as vulnerable as children in their weakness, their forgetfulness,

with their fears and their fancies.

Yet they could be strong too, and sensitive, and valuable,

valuable for their very humanity, for their veryneeds,

and for the deeds they have done and the greens they have greened.

Why must we wait for accidents or active illness to bring them to the attention of our enlightened communities?

Why can't we organize now the services needed for their protection?

When we neglect them, we neglect ourselves.

We shorten the span of our own potential.

We cheapen the meaning of life itself.

[Music]

[We wish to express our gratitude and admiration for the many "non-actors" aged sixty-five to ninety-three]

[who appear in "The Rights of Age" playing their own or fictitious roles]

[The End]