Do you ever wonder why it would be unsafe to live at home? What, in the aging process, might cause you or a loved one to consider researching Senior Communities? How would signs be recognizable?
Health field professionals depend on identifying Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) or Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) with individuals. It is important for everyone to recognize and understand a basic listing of ADLs, as defined below:
- Bathing: Elderly must be safe to bathe in showers or bathtubs. All body parts should be easy to reach, washed appropriately, and effortlessly dried with a towel
- Hygiene: Dental care, combing hair, using deodorant, and nail trimming need to be recognized and performed
- Toileting: Incontinency products should be worn when needed. Toilet positioning, wiping and performing peri-care
- Eating: Cutlery needs to be comfortably held, and food easily cut. Difficulty swallowing might indicate a medical condition
- Dressing: Clothing should be worn correctly, laundered, and changed regularly
- Ambulation: One must be able to walk to the bathroom, answer doors, and transfer from bed or chairs with ease
All six ADLs are physical and essential to Quality of Life. The aging process may exhibit increased dependence on what is termed Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs).
- Money: Balancing a checkbook, budgeting, and avoiding financial scams
- Household chores: Disposing garbage, cleaning dishes, avoiding fall hazards, laundering clothing
- Medications: Timely renewal of prescriptions, medications taken properly (with or without food, at correct times of day)
- Cooking: Reliance on proper nutrition instead of snacks and fast food. Cooking and storing food at proper temperatures
- Communication: Reaching out to others, either by technology or visiting, and engaging in social activities
- Transportation: Driving, using public transportation, able to request a ride
- Shopping: List composition, knowing one store from another, and paying for purchases
If you or a loved one are having difficulty with an ADL or IADL now is the time to initiate a conversation about Senior Communities. Bridge to Better Living has the expertise to best assist your family in this journey. Assistance is at no cost to the client. Reach out to Bridge to Better Living now. We believe in Quality of Life… and YOU.