We need to be careful about assuming that an asylum was for the mentally ill in past times. The term means a refuge (hence the linking of 'refugees' seeking 'asylum') for those who need shelter or are unable to care for themselves, or who have no family to care for them. Often the very old, or frail elderly who would today have good care in hostel or unit accommodation would have been housed in asylums with the mentally ill or those who were severely brain damaged at birth, and in some cases those who were cast off by their families. Anne MAYE