A Supposed High-End Nursing Home Room Is Almost as Luxurious as a 1-Star Motel

We never want our family to live in squalor, no matter where we come from or where they’re going. But sometimes, it can be too much of an emotional, psychological, or financial strain to live in a multigenerational household. So, many of America’s elderly people go on to live in nursing homes, whether or not they have close relatives.

TikToker @hypnos664 took to the social media platform to share what an actual high-end nursing home room looks like. He shared a TikTok video in which he shows off one of his client's rooms. However, it isn't as luxurious as we would have hoped.

In OP's TikTok video, he shows how unfit the room is for living, from the dirty kitchen to the lack of a proper bedroom. He insists that it’s a high-end facility even though to us, it looks like it’s unfit for anyone let alone one of our elderly members of society. It doesn’t look “luxurious” at all.

“You have a dirty old stove that’s probably going to blow up any day now,” he shows us. “Oh look at that! … You can’t even tell what degree the oven is … It doesn’t even have a dishwasher. He has one sink … [The living room] doesn’t even have a proper TV. Because no one bothered to get him a cheap $200, or even a $150 flat-screen. Literally, he doesn’t even have cable.”

“That is his only sofa,” OP says as he pans to a single white chair that has a bit of sofa heft to it. “That is the most comfortable thing that he has in this whole place. Oh but if you don’t want to sit on that, you can sit on these plastic baseball chairs.”

Pointing to a box with a phone and some paper on it, OP shows, “He doesn’t even have a proper table or coffee table to put any of his things on … Also he lives in the hood.” It’s true, none of us would want our grandparents living in that situation! But would that really be the case in any high-end nursing home?

“You guys want to see his only source of entertainment?” OP asks. “A portable DVD player. He actually does have a good selection of movies. But just imagine that. Imagine being in this, his place, 24/7, 365.”

Everything OP described as a downside, except for the wonky oven and lack of a dishwasher, was within the control of the client and his family. He was basically just showing how unfurnished the apartment is and how unfair it is that the elderly are often forced to live like this. OP then explains that his client is a “disabled veteran with PTSD, served eight years in the [military].”

While some people in the comments are quick to judge OP because furnishing isn’t typically the nursing home's job, others appreciate his big heart. “I’m currently working to get him a tablet,” OP tells us. “When I first came here and I started playing music from the 50s and the 60s and stuff, my God, the way his face just completely lit up.”

OP continued, “It was both very sad and very happy to see. Because on one hand, even if you’re not a caregiver, when you see a sad and elderly person’s face just fill up with joy, you just can’t help yourself but smile. But it was also really sad because how miserable, how sad do you have to be, to have just music have that kind of effect on you?"

“This b-------- needs to end,” OP advocates. “The elderly did their part. They did what they were supposed to do. They worked all their lives and they were a contributing member of society all their lives. And in return, they just get put in a glorified isolation cell. We gotta take better care of our elderly people."

However, people in the comments tried to say that the issue isn’t the nursing homes. Even still, OP’s client’s situation is sad, because OP shares in the comments that the client’s family “stole” all his furniture.

He’s probably not the only elderly person in this situation, which is how some of the fault should be on nursing homes. They should provide some furniture if the family isn’t an option — what 90-year-olds do you know who can shop online, measure, and build all their own Ikea furniture?