What is Assisted Living?
Assisted living is essentially a generic
term describing facilities for people needing assistance
with day to day living activities. There are times when
someone may need help in dealing with common tasks that
have become difficult due to physical limitations. Assisted
living is a means of providing the appropriate care for
those people who are elderly or who may have disabilities
in certain areas, but are otherwise capable in others.
This is a form of care that performs services
to aid in activities like laundry, housekeeping, preparing
meals, dressing or bathing that have become difficult for
someone to perform entirely for themselves. Some assisted
living facilities may also have provisions in the way of
minor medical care and assistance with medications. Assisted
living facilities are designed for people who require a
degree of help with Activities of Daily Living, or ADLs,
yet are still capable of maintaining a relatively independent
lifestyle.
Assisted living is not to be considered
as a replacement for, or an alternative to a nursing home.
The major difference lies in the fact that it is a more
appropriate way to support and enhance an individual's life
by helping them overcome the limitations they may be faced
with. These could include minor physical disabilities or
even confusion and memory problems that may be hard to for
a person to deal with alone.
Nursing homes, on the other hand, are specifically
designed for those who have extensive health considerations
that make them unable to take care of themselves without
constant or acute care. Assisted living is intended for
people who require regular help in a few particular areas
in their lives, but can manage most on their own.
Assisted living exists to many varying degrees.
In some cases, people may have only slight health considerations.
They still may not desire to maintain a home and will elect
to live where lawn care, food preparation and other minor
chores are taken care of for them. Programs are additionally
available to accommodate more extensive needs that may be
required for each person's situation.
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