Assisted elderly living is one of those terms you hear quite often but may not fully understand. When it is your loved one in need of assistance for daily living, you want to have a clearer understanding of the types of services and assistance available to him or her. The types of assistance essentially fall into one or both the categories discussed below.
1. Personal Care Assistance
Depending on health and other physical limitations, your loved one may need assistance with a wide range of personal care and grooming tasks. While it is always in the best interest of the patient to encourage independence and self-sufficiency when possible, there are some tasks that have become too difficult for patients to manage on their own. This can include any one or more of the following tasks:
- Dressing (buttons are especially difficult for some arthritic hands, for instance)
- Oral health care
- Bathing
- Incontinence care
- Haircare
In some assisted elderly living communities, especially those that have senior living apartments, personal care assistants also help with light housekeeping, laundry, and similar tasks. Most facilities provide nutritious meals to residents, though some do have kitchens or kitchenettes in patient residents so they can prepare light meals and snacks of their own.
2. Medical Care Assistance
In many cases, the medical care assistance is equally important to patients in assisted elderly living centers as the personal care assistance. Depending on the needs of the patients and the specific senior living center your loved one chooses, many services are available to promote improved overall health and wellbeing, including:
- 24-hour nursing care
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Cardiac physical therapy
- Medication management
- Monitoring vital signs
The beauty of an assisted elderly living community is that all the moving parts work together to help improve the quality of life for your loved one. It isn't all about assistance in the mundane, day-to-day aspects of life. It is also about providing quality entertainment, engaging activities, and a safe environment in which your loved one can flourish physically, socially, and emotionally during these golden years.
So many families struggle with the idea of placing a loved one in an assisted elderly living community. But they're looking at it in the wrong light. This is where your loved one can get the assistance he or she needs with the daily aspects of functioning so he or she can enjoy living rather than worrying over the details and doing the basics.
For more information about assisted elderly living facilities, contact one in your area.
In the words of the Beatles "we get by with a little help from our friends." When your friend is an older adult, you cannot always provide that help yourself. They might need skilled nursing care or around-the-clock supervision that you're just not equipped to offer. That's where nursing homes and assisted living facilities can come in handy. These businesses make sure your loved one gets the help they need, provided by experienced and kind employees. You can learn more about assisted living and nursing facilities in the articles offered here. We think that after you read and explore, you'll be more confident that this is the help your friend needs.