Russian Profile
Health Care of the Aged

Lybov Boyko says that the quality of care is very poor in nursing homes in Russia. They are often dirty, understaffed and lacking supplies. Her mother made her promise that she would never put her in a nursing home. Most Russians think that only children who do not care about their parents would send them to a nursing home, because they are such awful places. Grandparents often live with their children and grandchildren, who take care of them. Older people are sent to nursing homes only if they need more care than their children can provide. Children are ashamed to say that they have placed their parents in a nursing home, because this implies that they do not care about their parents.

Lyobov said that some Russian immigrants still feel this way about nursing homes – that it is shameful to place their parents in them. However, she notes that the quality of care provided in nursing homes is much better in the United States. Indeed, her mother has even told her that once she can no longer live on her own, she would be happy to go to a nursing home. She understands that it would be difficult for Lyobov and her husband, who both work, to take care of her – and she is impressed by the nursing homes she has seen in the United States.