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Title: Not my home Reference: Directors & producers, Suzanne Babin,
Tynette Deveaux, & Bert Deveaux; producers, Deveaux Babin Productions
in association with Newsworld. Abstract: Presents the life of the 101 residents of The Seaview Manor nursing home in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, showing their relationships with each other and the staff, and illustrating the difficulty in providing appropriate care. Interviews residents, their families and staff. Library of Congress subjects: Sociology subjects: Reviews and Numerical Ratings (2.5) This documentary exposes issues pertaining to institutionalized patients in health care institutions. Specifically, it targets how patients are stripped of their autonomy; are dependent, in some cases, for basic tasks such as being clothed; are deprived of privacy; and are limited in terms of the number of personal items that they can bring into their rooms. In short, it exposes the inner and outer alienation that the patients experience while signaling the absence of proper care on an emotional level. It also highlights that some patients may be over medicated and that the possibility of physical and verbal abuse by either patient or care giver is very real. Lastly, the documentary postulates that there are limited activities that patients can engage in by virtue that the health care aids and nurses are understaffed and are on a fixed/standardized schedule. Again, the underlying argument is that health care institutions meet the needs of the patients on the physical spectrum not on an emotional level. A point that the documentary meagerly addressed and could have been further developed, is the underfunding and limited budget that health care institutions run on. Carlos Torres (undergraduate) (2) ‘I feel like I’m jail’, is how one of the residents in the nursing home describes her life. This film captures the sadness and loneliness that is all too real for the elderly who have been abandoned by their families and society, but neglects to provide any explanation for why or how this has happened. The focus of this film is solely personal and consequently the individual behaviors of the nurses, residents, and family members are used to explain these deplorable circumstances. Sarah Newman (2)This video basically shows the same inadequate conditions of seniors as The Business of Aging. But I realized that this video was done ten or 11 years later and I was shocked to see that conditions were exactly the same, with no improvements at all. That was really saddening. I was very disappointed, however, that the video took a very passive stance (compared to the Business of Aging). It didn’t advocate, it didn’t look at structural causes, it only showed the conditions in which seniors live. I was very disappointed. I felt we were regressing, rather than progressing, when I compare this to The Business of Aging. I would definitely like to see some change in this area. There’s obviously a problem and maybe we need to do some research in this area in order to find ways to eradicate the problems in the nursing homes, because inevitably these situations will affect us. Sociologists should do work in this area. In summary, I remain disappointed & provoked by this video. Marsha McQueen (undergraduate) (3) The residents’ withdrawal & depression,
the staff’s fatigue, the guilty and worried family members, the
monotone flow of bad news, and the deadening environment (no more than
three pictures or craft works on the wall) with its numerous rules &
routines, all make this video supremely depressing & hard to forget.
Plus, the Nova Scotia setting & accents are so connected to my fun
trip there, that all this misery seems especially unjust. Right, so
it’s hard to think like a sociologist while watching this, but
probably by tomorrow I will have ideas about how this video relates
to labour issues, total institutions, and the intersection of public
& private spheres. I’m not sure you could expect students
to leap into analysis right away either. Kathy Bischoping
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