Message on the Observance of National Nursing Home Week, May 11-18, 1980

Frail and vulnerable people should have a primary place in the minds and hearts of all Americans. Many of them turn to nursing homes for the support and care they cannot find elsewhere.

On the occasion of National Nursing Home Week, I salute the hundreds of thousands of persons who give of themselves unselfishly in serving our senior citizens. I also applaud and congratulate those facilities which aspire to the highest ideals of this service.

Care of the frail and vulnerable is not always easy, but those who have provided it unstintingly and with devotion know that it has its rewards.

There is nothing more reprehensible than the exploitation of those who are defenseless. We therefore owe our special thanks to those in the health care field who consistently work to improve the quality of life of nursing home inhabitants.

On this occasion I call upon the American people to make our nursing homes an integral part of our communities. The conditions that prevail in them should reflect the compassionate concern of community groups, families, churches, service and labor organizations and private individuals. And the quality of attention they provide should be a credit to the professionals who staff them and a source of pride to all who are associated with them.

National Nursing Home Week gives all of us—those who manage and work in nursing homes, friends of nursing home residents and those who share the concerns of their communities—the opportunity to rededicate ourselves to setting and perpetuating the highest standards of care for those who must make these institutions their home in their declining years.

JIMMY CARTER