The article reveals the inadequacy of nursing homes for young people. However, they are also inadequate for old people. I am 86 and dread the prospect of needing to go into a nursing home. I have been in nursing homes mainly to visit my mother. Many of them are simply storage facilities until the inmates die. If they are made adequate for old people they will also become adequate for young people. The problem is broader than not meeting the needs of young people. Nursing homes should be made adequate for people of all ages.

David f wrote: "Nursing homes should be made adequate for people of all ages."

Spot on.

The NDIS is integral but let's not forget that in addition, more accommodation services need to be built. Other transitional services are also a must, so that people with severe brain injuries can demonstrate their potential at their own pace before being forced into nursing homes. Nursing homes are not, and have never been, the right place for these people.

No young person should be forced to live in a nursing home. The NDIS will be a terrific step forward and to maximise the impact of the NDIS, now is the time for us as a society to address the need for suitable accommodation options for young people.

I unfortunately had the unenviable task of identifying a nursing home for my mother as her dementia became unmangageable. I looked at what initially seemed to be a considerable number of options for her however on closer scrutiny the number diminished due to factors such as security and cleanliness, let alone affordability. I ultimately found a resource that seemed to be ok and she settled in quite well until she was moved from her temporary accommodation within the facility to the permanent to be confronted by the behaviour of a young man with severe brain damage using the same common recreation area. His relentless screams were very unnerving for me and ten times worse I'm sure for my increasingly frail mother. The situation was further compounded by the nursing staff taking great delight in telling me that the brain damage was the direct result of a recreational drug overdose and that his behaviour would get worse. Just as i had few options for my mother, the young mans parents had similarly few options for their son. What do we do?

This research provides further evidence that young people shouldn't be forced to live in nursing homes because there is nowhere else for them.