Friday, April 29, 2011

Why Choose Assisted Living And Why Facilities Provide Comfort

By Adriana Noton


It may be difficult having to come to the realization that a loved one can no longer go through their daily routine on their own. Perhaps it is parent or grandparent that needs special care. In many cases their offspring can not take them into their own home to care for because they do not have the specially needed facilities and equipment to accommodate them. Many people cannot afford to stop work in order to provide full time care and hiring a round the clock in-home caregiver is too expensive. Sadly, in a great deal of cases, many people do not have anyone close to them that may provide care so assisted living facilities become the final option.

There are millions of people who are in need of assisted living all over the world because they can no longer conduct activities of daily life (ADLs) on their own. This usually refers to the elderly but can also include those with disabilities. This type of care usually means that a person resides in a facility where normal daily needs such as eating, bathing, dressing and taking medications are conducted under the supervision or with the assistance of trained professionals.

Usually a typical resident in an ALF will have the need for assistance in 3 ADLs. It is a sensitive state which is somewhere in between intensive care needs and independent living. However, ALFs offer a much less confined and more social atmosphere for those who still relish this. This interaction with fellow patients and residents is most often the largest attraction for those in search of care.

By the numbers, most ALF residents are just under 87 years old and will stay in the facility for an average of 28.6 year until they are deceased. Women outnumber men in these residences by a three to one margin. Most residents are widowed while some may still have spouses and significant others still living.

One of the largest advantages is that of the social environment that these residences provide. Large common areas are available for eating with others and this helps to mitigate the loneliness many elders feel. This is a primary difference between ALFs and intensive care units where patients are kept bedridden and hooked up to monitoring devices most of or all the day.

Also, the residents need not be concerned with the preparation of meals. A trained kitchen staff offers three meals a day in a community dining hall where the people who live their can converse and mingle if they choose to do so.

Modern ALFs provide their residents with their own apartment. While basic daily needs are provided for like meals, laundry, waste removal and sheet changes a person can still feels as independent as they were. There is usually no special monitoring equipment like that which would be found in nursing homes.

Several Assisted Living New York facilities also offer service to the mentally ill. This is primarily reserved for people who are in certain stages of dementia, to include Alzheimer's disease. However, other types of patients with mental disabilities are welcome in some cases as long as they do not pose a threat to others or themselves.




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