What is assisted living?

Assisted living is essentially a generic term describing facilities for people needing assistance with day to day living activities. There are times when someone may need help in dealing with common tasks that have become difficult due to physical limitations. Assisted living is a means of providing the appropriate care for those people who are elderly or who may have disabilities in certain areas, but are otherwise capable in others.

This is a form of care that performs services to aid in activities like laundry, housekeeping, preparing meals, dressing or bathing that have become difficult for someone to perform entirely for themselves. Some assisted living facilities may also have provisions in the way of minor medical care and assistance with medications. Assisted living facilities are designed for people who require a degree of help with Activities of Daily Living, or ADLs, yet are still capable of maintaining a relatively independent lifestyle.
Assisted living is not to be considered as a replacement for, or an alternative to a nursing home. The major difference lies in the fact that it is a more appropriate way to support and enhance an individual's life by helping them overcome the limitations they may be faced with. These could include minor physical disabilities or even confusion and memory problems that may be hard to for a person to deal with alone.

Nursing homes, on the other hand, are specifically designed for those who have extensive health considerations that make them unable to take care of themselves without constant or acute care. Assisted living is intended for people who require regular help in a few particular areas in their lives, but can manage most on their own.

Assisted living exists to many varying degrees. In some cases, people may have only slight health considerations. They still may not desire to maintain a home and will elect to live where lawn care, food preparation and other minor chores are taken care of for them. Programs are additionally available to accommodate more extensive needs that may be required for each person's situation.