Written on July 8, 2024 by Peter Hayes, President Senior Care Relations
Peter Hayes is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and founder of Senior Care Relations
The senior care industry has been on the rise for the last decade, and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) are being developed across the United States providing seniors with different care options. Assisted Living Facilities come in many different shapes and forms, meaning they can be in retirement communities or be free standing. Some ALFs offer memory care neighborhoods, or the community is completely memory care for those with cognitive impairments and are unable to distinguish the difference between a safe and unsafe situation.
ALFs are a benefit to the senior population and their families because they can make a positive impact on ones physical, emotional, and social status. ALFs provide many different services and amenities that allow seniors to thrive. Let’s look at some of the benefits an ALF has to offer.
Assistance with Activities of Daily Living
Activities of daily living are things such as bathing, dressing, grooming, or transferring. Each resident is unique, so their needs will vary from other residents within the community. Assisted Living Facilities will create an individualized care plan with the resident and their family to meet their specific needs.
Let’s say Ms. Smith just moved into her new apartment at the stunning Assisted Living Facility in her hometown. Ms. Smith can bathe independently but has struggled setting up her shower and standing for longer periods of time on a wet surface and becomes afraid of falling. To help Ms. Smith meet her bathing needs while allowing her to keep her independence, Ms. Smith’s care plan might look a little something like this: The ALF may establish a shower schedule where staff can help set up the shower essentials for her, they can make sure a shower chair is in place or put a slip resistant mat down for safety measures and provide stand by supervision, so Ms. Smith can take a shower freely and somewhat independently while feeling safe and comfortable.
On the other hand, another resident in the community may need hands on physical assistance with bathing, because he or she is unable to reach their lower extremities or unable to wash their back due to it being a harder place to reach. Another resident may not need physical assistance but may need mechanical assistance such as a shower chair or even supervision, because they still can bathe independently. An assisted living can meet all these specific needs.
You might be saying to yourself, mom is able to perform her daily living activities independently, but she faces challenges taking her medications appropriately or handling day to day activities around her house such as meal preparation, cleaning or maintaining her home so can assisted living help with that? They sure can, and this is one of the bests features of an Assisted Living Facility. This is called assistance with instrumental activities of daily living, or you might hear it called IADLs.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)
IADLs are tasks that support daily life and require more complex planning and thinking compared to basic self-care tasks. These tasks are essential for independent living and might be more challenging for someone who might have not completed these types of tasks throughout their lives, especially if a spouse typically handled them and now the individual is widowed and living alone. For example, Mr. Smith typically handled the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. Mr. Smith unexpectedly passes away, leaving Mrs. Smith to now handle all these activities alone. The widower might struggle with knowing which foods to buy, where to buy them, as well as preparing the actual meal. When you add in having to clean up the pots, pans and dishes, it can become overwhelming, and one might skip on eating meals and lean towards just eating snacks or unhealthy meals that are not beneficial to their overall nutrition.
Assisted Living Facilities provide three well balanced meals per day, along with snacks. Multiple menu options typically are available, and meals usually include a starter option such as a salad or soup and a dessert at the end of the meal. What I have personally observed is that most residents always enjoy a bowl of ice cream after their meal 😊. Residents don’t have to worry about purchasing the food, keeping it fresh, preparing it or even having to clean it up. Most Assisted Living Facilities offer dining room service, meaning they have staff serving them in a designated dining room to make their overall experience more enjoyable. One of the greatest aspects of this service is residents get to know their neighbors and build relationships. Mealtimes are a perfect setting for those to engage and keep their social relationships intact.
Other IADLs include housekeeping, laundry care if you desire, and transportation assistance for shopping and/or appointments. All of these are provided by most assisted livings in the area, but there is still one important IADL not yet discussed. Communities have certified staff to help manage medications, including ensuring that medications are ordered, maintained and taken appropriately as recommended by your physician. Taking medications as prescribed assists with preventing unnecessary hospitalizations or doctor’s visits and typically improves one’s overall health.
Senior Living
Assisted Living Facilities are one aspect of senior living. The points discussed in this article are just a few of the benefits of the overall aspects that you can expect from an ALF. My goal is to educate our audience and provide you with information surrounding ALFs and other senior living options that might be the right fit for you or a loved one.
If you live in Roanoke, Virginia or the surrounding areas and looking to gather more information about assisted living for you or a loved one, feel free to email us at info@seniorcarerelations.com or call us at (540) 730-1001. We are here to help you along your care journey!
