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From Almshouse to City Nursing Home: Philadelphia’s Riverview Home for the Aged, 1945–1965

From Almshouse to City Nursing Home: Philadelphia’s Riverview Home for the Aged, 1945–1965 From Almshouse to City Nursing Home Philadelphia's Riverview Home for the Aged, 194-5-1965 JANNA L. DIECKMANN School of Nursing University of Pennsylvania The almshouse was the established method of institutional relief for eco­ nomically dependent elderly people from early in the nineteenth century until recent decades. Tacit acceptance of almshouse methods was, however, frequently countered by appeals for their abolishment. When Social Se­ curity payments became available to the aged in 1940, noninstitutional relief was advocated. Almshouse care came to be seen as not only undesir­ able but also unnecessary. Yet reducing the almshouse population proved difficult. Increasing numbers of the aged and the emerging chronic illness «problem" of the r94-0s provoked a reassessment of institutional relief, ultimately transforming many almshouses into homes for the aged. Who was to care for the aged sick? While each city and county reached slightly different accommodations based on local circumstances, Phila­ delphia's story reveals themes found elsewhere: the political shape of health problems, and the difficulty in designing-and paying for-health services to meet the needs of the poor and chronically ill. In 1951 Philadelphia's Riverview Home for the Aged was reborn from the Home for the Indigent almshouse. Struggling to fulfill the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nursing History Review Springer Publishing

From Almshouse to City Nursing Home: Philadelphia’s Riverview Home for the Aged, 1945–1965

DIECKMANN, JANNA L.
Nursing History Review , Volume 1 (1): 12 – Jan 1, 1993
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Publisher
Springer Publishing
ISSN
1062-8061
eISSN
1938-1913
DOI
10.1891/1062-8061.1.1.217
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Abstract

From Almshouse to City Nursing Home Philadelphia's Riverview Home for the Aged, 194-5-1965 JANNA L. DIECKMANN School of Nursing University of Pennsylvania The almshouse was the established method of institutional relief for eco­ nomically dependent elderly people from early in the nineteenth century until recent decades. Tacit acceptance of almshouse methods was, however, frequently countered by appeals for their abolishment. When Social Se­ curity payments became available to the aged in 1940, noninstitutional relief was advocated. Almshouse care came to be seen as not only undesir­ able but also unnecessary. Yet reducing the almshouse population proved difficult. Increasing numbers of the aged and the emerging chronic illness «problem" of the r94-0s provoked a reassessment of institutional relief, ultimately transforming many almshouses into homes for the aged. Who was to care for the aged sick? While each city and county reached slightly different accommodations based on local circumstances, Phila­ delphia's story reveals themes found elsewhere: the political shape of health problems, and the difficulty in designing-and paying for-health services to meet the needs of the poor and chronically ill. In 1951 Philadelphia's Riverview Home for the Aged was reborn from the Home for the Indigent almshouse. Struggling to fulfill the

Journal

Nursing History Review – Springer Publishing

Published: Jan 1, 1993

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