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Many people wrongly believe that when people reach old age, their families place them in nursing homes.They are left in the 1 of strangers for the rest of their lives.Their 2 children visit them only occasionally, but more often, they do not have any 3 visitors.The truth is that this idea is an unfortunate myth-an 4 story.In fact, family members provide over 80 percent of the care 5 elderly people need.Samuel Prestoon, a sociologist, studied 6 the American family is changing.He reported that by the time the 7 American couple reaches 40 years of age, they have more parents than children. 8 , because people today live longer after an illness than people did years 9 , family members must provide long term care.More psychologists have found that all caregivers 10 a common characteristic: All caregivers believe that they are the best 11 for the job.In other words, they all felt that they 12 do the job better than anyone else.Social workers 13 caregivers to find out why they took 14 the responsibility of caring for an elderly relative.Many caregivers believed they had 15 to help their relative.Some stated that helping others 16 them feel more useful.Others hoped that by helping 17 now, they would deserve care when they became old and 18 .Caring for the elderlyand being taken care of can be a 19 satisfying experience for everyone who might be 20 . |
