Assisted Living: Your Definitive Guide for 2024

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What is assisted living?

So, what are assisted living facilities and what is assisted living? Let’s start with the basics. Assisted living is a type of long-term residential care for seniors who need some help with daily tasks like laundry, transportation, and medication management. Most assisted living facilities offer support with daily activities, as well opportunities for social and recreational activities. There are even places that don’t refer to themselves as assisted living which may provide assisted living services. This includes retirement homes, nursing homes, or senior living communities.

What are ADLs in assisted living facilities (Activities of Daily Living)?

Assisted living provides assistance with the activities of daily living, or ADLs. Medical professionals and assisted living staff use ADLs to evaluate how independently someone can live. Key ADLs include the following:

Your trusted partner, every step of the way.

Personal hygiene. This activity includes not just bathing and grooming (brushing your teeth and hair, trimming nails., etc.), but also whether you can handle glasses, contacts, and hearing aids.
Toileting/continence. This ADL refers to one’s ability to recognize the need to go, reach the toilet, and wipe effectively, as well as the ability to sit and stand back up.
Dressing refers to one’s ability to not only get dressed independently but also to recognize what clothing is appropriate for the weather or setting.
Eating means feeding yourself (and drinking) without spilling.
Mobility (often called “transferring”) refers to the ability to change from one position to another (from sitting to standing, getting out of bed, etc.) as well as walking.

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