Apathy or Activity?

access through the selective view of certain television programmes, and articles in the Press, presented in the last year. A drab picture is painted; the atmosphere of apathy, of old men and women sitting around the edge of a room with tiled floors, doing nothing all day except going to the lavatory. A few may be reading, whilst others might watch television. Most people visiting Homes for the aged get a uniform picture of boredom and what is now commonly termed 'vegetation'. The usual explanations for this state of affairs depend upon which point of view you hear. Matrons and the staff of Homes say that they cannot get old people to be active; that they prefer to be idle ali day; and that most attempts at getting them to do something (such as going on a coach outing, or attending an evening of entertainment put on by the local church choir) are unrewarding tasks, since few of the residents are