Many people wrongly believe that when
people reach old age,-their families place them in nursing homes. They are left
in the{{U}} (51) {{/U}}of strangers for the rest of their lives.
Their{{U}} (52) {{/U}}children visit them only occasionally, but more
often, they do not have any regular visitors. The truth is that this idea is an
unfortunate myth-an{{U}} (53) {{/U}}story. In fact, family members
provide over 80 percent of the care{{U}} (54) {{/U}}elderly people need.
Samuel Prestoon, a sociologist, studied{{U}} (55) {{/U}}the American
family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple
reaches 40 years of age, they have more parents than children{{U}} (56)
{{/U}}, because people today live longer after an illness than people did
years{{U}} (57) {{/U}}, family members must provide long term care.
More psychologists have found that all caregivers{{U}} (58) {{/U}}a
common characteristic: All caregivers believe that they are the best people for
the job. In other words, they all felt that they{{U}} (59) {{/U}}do the
job better than anyone else. Social workers{{U}} (60) {{/U}}caregivers
to find out why they took{{U}} (61) {{/U}}the responsibility of caring
for an elderly relative. Many caregivers believed they had obligation to help
their relative. Some stated that helping others{{U}} (62) {{/U}}them
feel more useful. Others hoped that by helping{{U}} (63) {{/U}}now, they
would deserve care when they became old and{{U}} (64) {{/U}}. Caring for
the elderly and being taken care of can be a mutually satisfying experience for
everyone who might be{{U}} (65) {{/U}}.