You can' t understand until you are in their shoes, how they feel. I say that as someone who ran one of the largest home health agencies in the country and thought I knew how seniors feel because that was "our business".

I like your first five points of "best advice", the last one is unnecessary seniors know that already, they are not stupid. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is most seniors don't want to be "warehoused" in a facility. Many seniors would rather die in their home. I am 67 and that will be my choice if I get to make it. Seniors have a right to make their choices and I think most understand the consequences... like my uncle who after to being admitted to the hospital for a serious stroke opted for no life extending treatment and died a few days later. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he made his choice.

We are sorry if our choices place a burden on those around us and especially those that love us and that more than any other reason is why seniors opt to go to facilities if they have a choice. They choose to suffer rather than be a burden on their children.

I have discussed with my family my choices and hope they will honor them. Don't try to keep us alive, help us "live" as long as possible. When we "can't live", my guess is most of us will be ready to die.

Aging can be terrifying. Some are lucky and go all at once. But others face a long and brutal decline.