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Traditional nursing facilities are sterile institutions rather than homes - which is why many Americans do not want to live in one or want this as their only option for themselves or their family members.

I've spent a great deal of time over the past decade as a caregiver for various family members. It gives me a perspective on the struggles that many New Yorkers face with illness, disability, health care, insurance difficulties, and trying to work with and also take care of family members.

The Medicaid system currently steers people toward nursing home care. Far more people can be covered in community-based care programs for significantly less.

Let's say, 100 years ago, I'm not sure how many people had to empty out their relatives' homes; they just stayed in the same house, because they lived there. Nowadays, almost everyone, at least once in their life, somehow, has to deal with this experience.

Individuals with significant care needs increasingly receive services in their homes rather than in institutional settings. And correspondingly, residential care increasingly is provided by professionals employed by third-party agencies rather than by workers hired directly by care recipients and their families.

In America, people rarely stay in the town where they grew up, rarely stay in close proximity to their parents throughout their lives. You rarely find parents in their old age being taken care of by their children.

Home can be the friend you have been searching for all your life or the person you met once very briefly.

I had one relative who passed away but fortunately none others. So my sort of experience of it is quite limited, thankfully.

Patience with family members and others who are close to us is vital for us to have happy homes.

Some people spend their lives building ultimate dream homes so they can enjoy their twilight years... Others spend their last days in nursing homes.