What is Assisted Living and Why is it Important?

What is Assisted Living and why is it Important?

Assisted living in a congregate setting will provide a care team who will meet an individual’s physical and/or cognitive needs through helping them with ADL’s (activities of daily living) with the purpose of allowing them to remain as independent as they desire. Every person is unique, so the care they receive is unique to them.

The ultimate goal of assisted living is to allow each individual to remain independent with the best life for as long as possible because of the care being provided. A wide range of individual needs can be met including medication management, personal hygiene, meal and laundry, socialization, individual queuing, one assist mobilization, and so much more.

When people move into assisted living, family members soon begin to notice a better quality of life and an ability to thrive that didn’t exist prior to moving in. Distractions are taken away, feelings of isolation subside, and confidence returns.

 Why is assisted living the most attractive eventual option?

 Home health is an attractive option for many obvious reasons, but often mom or dad will send the home health nurse away because they feel they don’t need the help and family members won’t even know. Home health can also be double the cost of assisted living as hours begin to add up as more care is required due to physical and cognitive decline. Isolation also occurs for most who live privately in their home, leading to failure to thrive. It has also become increasingly difficult to schedule care to come in the home and days are missed where care is extremely important.   Having mom and dad move in with a family member is another option, but can become increasing difficult, especially as cognitive, and physical issues become more prominent. Also, the busy lives of working, school, and extracurricular activities can mean lack of care for our loved ones and again the feeling of isolation.

 Why is moving in sooner than later important?

 Family is waiting longer and longer before finding a safe and secure facility to move mom or dad. The feelings of guilt can be overwhelming. If a family member has cognitive decline, it can be a disservice to wait to move them. The higher level of cognitive decline, the harder it is for a person to acclimate to a new environment. If people wait to move a person in with physical limitations, they risk falls without being in a safe environment to receive immediate care.