Should old people give rooms to interns?

Nothing "should" about it. Up to the individual. Same as for the rest of the population.

I doubt if the "helping the older person" thing would work out. That would soon tail off, human nature being as it is.

Don't think I would want someone else to clear up after if I was frail.

Intention is good but probably wouldn't work. People by nature are all enthusiastic in the beginning and then the novelty wears off. Very young and very old do not mix, think music taste and TV tastes.

I find the whole idea of interns completely absurd in the first place. What is wrong with giving a beginner a beginner's job with beginner's pay? They learn on the job, acquiring experience directly related to the company, service, whatever where they are working, increasing their value and the pay over time. That's how it was when I left university and when M absent left school and it seemed to work okay then.

However, assuming that young people are stuck with this daft idea instead of a proper job, I am fairly doubtful about old people offering low price accommodation in return for help. Having had resident nannies, au pairs, etc. I quite treasure having my home to myself these days (with Mr absent) and, although I miss absentdaughter, I don't think I'd want to be sharing my house with her. I'm not frail enough – or at all– to need someone to help me, but if were, I think I'd feel a bit vulnerable and anxious about having a complete stranger living in my home.

I would also be concerned about the young person's boyfriend and other visitors for whom, of course, a company could not vouch.

They could have our caravan in the garden. We don't use it now.

Some very good points made there absent I dont think it would work as mentioned before a new broom and all that then they get bored and the contract would not be kept as originally planned.

Absent, I feel the same.

Spot on, absent!

I really hate the assumption behind all these initiatives that older people as a group need this help and companionship. Just once could some of the very nice people who have these ideas say something like 'Some older people who have become disabled and isolated'. I agree there may be people who would well respond to a scheme like this. It is just the way it is automatically assumes old = disability+ vulnerability. A scheme like this might be welcome to people of all ages who are disabled, isolated and possibly vulnerable.

My father lived to be 92 still living independently and still active enough in local organisations for his profile to be high enough for his MP to turn up for the funeral. When he died my sister and I were still waiting for him to add vulnerable to the age + equation.

There are many older people in this country and also many disabled people and many vulnerable and many vulnerable or lonely people. Some people belong to all these groups. The majority do not.

If I was frail and vulnerable, the last thing I would want would be a young stranger living in my home.
No way.

Oh I don't know . If he was young, dishy free and played the organ well?



I could have a good singsong!

No, I wouldn't be interested in the scheme for all the reasons mentioned already. Even the organ bit couldn't tempt me
]

More thoughts, just imagine, the house would be a tip, dirty clothes left lying around, empty booze bottles, food disappearing from the fridge at an alarming rate, mucky bathroom etc. The frail old person would probably end up doing the intern's washing, cooking and cleaning and having to listen to loud young type music.

Oh dear you've just described my house Pet

I don't want some intern under my feet, and unless it is a plumbing or lanscape gardening intern (don't suppose they exist) I can imagine having to teach tme the jobs they could do, in the first place. If they aren't well off, they wouldn't be taking me anywhere in their car, but maybe needing lifts in mine, and I can get the shopping I need online. No thanks!

When my marriage broke up and I was thinking of ways I could still afford to stay in the same house, I did consider taking in a lodger, and my first thought was to contact the local hospital, thinking that there would be less chance of me offering a home to a psychopath of some kind [ok; perhaps not; I do work for the nhs so it was more a case of a 'better the devil you know']. What stopped me was the fact that my son kept moving back home and I also felt that any lodger would expect an en suite bathroom. Also, our local hospital closed down and the the new one is so far away no one would consider having to travel from my village to the new one on a regular basis. I'd lived in so many shared houses in my youth that, doing so again didn't bother me, especially as I'm the one that plays music very loud late into the night, and, hopefully, a young intern would be working unusual shifts which means I could carry on doing so. Would an intern be classed as a student, thereby allowing the house owner to still claim the 25% off the council tax [or whatever it's called these days]?

Zephrine my house too. I've got a 22 year old grandson living with me.

petallus I've only got a husband living with me!

I have two bedrooms and want to keep one for visitors. We have a right to a spare room!

Surely this is not a new idea. I believe a scheme called 'Homeshare'started several years ago.and is still functioning in some areas -look on google

I don't fancy a stranger in my house. It's the term 'intern' that puts me off. Neither a lodger or a carer it seems to me. Having a carer live in would be different because if I reached that stage then I'd need one or have to go into a home. Having a lodger who'd share my facilities no thanks. Been there, done that with a series of au pairs in my younger days. I prefer my own company - and that of GN of course

What is this obsession with older people's homes? I know that there is a housing shortage for families and that renting flats can be hugely expensive for single people. But why is it that the government and other bodies seek a solution by suggesting that somehow older people are being unreasonable to want to stay in the homes they have paid for, worked on and quite probably lived in for a long time? There are many other ways to help young families.

It's because they know we'll be pushing up the daisies sooner rather than later.

IN that case, goldengirl it would be courteous for them to wait.

I think I'd rather push up native orchids