Something that I was really impressed with when my aunt went to the nursing home, was that they brought someone in to help her become more independent, even though she was living in a nursing home because she had pretty much exhausted her resources of living on her own independently. It became obvious, with all the health problems she had that living alone would not be a good idea. For all the problems she did have, I always thought she did wonderful living alone as long as she did. This help she received in the nursing came in the form of giving her tools to make allow her to do things for herself — such as putting her socks on by herself, or her shoes. She had a special computer that she brought from when she lived alone, as well as the magnifying glasses, but they provided her with other low vision aids that helped her to read and see things a bit better on her own, rather than having to have someone read things to her, or write out her checks. Yes, towards the end, she became more and more dependent, but some of the aids they gave her were just amazing. It was like “why didn’t I think of that”? You just don’t realize until you are there to what people who can’t see go through, or people who need assistance in other ways, just how much they depend on others. When tools can be used, it is a good thing.