Abstract

Certain characteristics of aged persons in the contemporary population are causing modifications in the traditional approach to institutions for the aged. Historically, such institutions served persons who were either poverty-stricken or chronically ill. The institution was a combination poor farm and hospital, aged residents were viewed as a sort of vegetable, alive and cared for but barely human in the normal sense of the term. In recent years a different model has become popular, an entire community devised to supply the best possible for the "senior citizen." In a typical arrangement the aspiring resident purchases a home in the community and makes monthly payments to cover the costs of the property plus the services offered by the community. In this case the resident is neither indigent nor ill, persons who are may still choose an institution formulated along traditional lines. The communities described are specifically created for persons who have financial means sufficient to maintain themselves, who are healthy enough to continue seeking the good life, and who, in personality and temperament, are outgoing, interested persons who want to make maximum use of their retirement years.