Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) are the abilities and skills that are necessary to do some of the daily tasks associated with independent living. These activities may not be essential for the basic functioning of a person. However, they are contemplated as important to evaluate the self-sufficiency of a person together with their quality of life.    An evaluation of the capability of a person to manage the instrumental activities of daily living is used as a factor to understand whether a person can safely continue to live in their house without any outside help. Typically there are eight key focus areas for IADl and includes: ability to use a phone,  running household tasks and shopping management of finances  dressing and laundry housekeeping  meal preparation transportation management of medication    Functioning Of Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living  There are various scales used to measure the ability of a person to do the instrumental activities of daily living. These include the Katz ADL scale, Lawton IADL scale, Older American Resources, And Services ADL/IADL scale, and the Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale.  Some questionnaires are used by caregivers, family members, and health care professionals to measure the competence of a person with these skills. These are oftentimes used in assessments to find out if seniors can safely live at home independently. Alternatively, these are used to find out the level of services necessary to enable a senior to continue living in their home.  These assessments will allow for objective considerations regarding […]

Adult foster care is any care that is offered to an adult in a home-based environment. Ordinarily, this type of care is provided to adults with intellectual or developmental impairments. These disabilities can affect their ability to lead a normal life.  Adult foster care usually offers assistance with activities that are a part and parcel of daily living. A few examples include the following ones listed below: Meal preparation  Cleaning and laundry  Personal grooming  Dressing  Climbing stairs and walking  Medication management    Adult foster care is also called small group assisted living, domiciliary care, adult family care, etc. Usually, this type of care is provided in homes with less than six residents, whereas the assisted living homes offer care to large groups. Adult foster care can also ensure the personal safety of the seniors.  How Does Adult Foster Care Work?  Adult foster care provides varying levels of care and this depends on the need of the residents. Therefore this type of care can vary from round-the-clock care to daily drop-ins for help with some tasks. In foster care setups, residents will usually have their quarters with easy access to assistance when they need it.  The availability of staff is the biggest difference between assisted living facilities and adult foster care. Staff will be available and awake round the clock in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Adult foster care homes will also have staff available but they might not be necessarily awake round the clock. This is because the needs […]

Every year the month of February is remembered as Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month. As per the statistics, AMD is one of the major causes of vision loss in people over the age of 50. This disease is very common among seniors and can be challenging to diagnose at the early stages. Moreover, the treatment options for the problem tend to be limited. Many seniors in assisted living communities suffer from this problem and it is important to know about the different types, causes, symptoms, and preventive measures to ensure proper treatment for the problem. Categories Of AMD  Age-Related Macular Degeneration is a condition developed due to problems with the segment of the retina that is at the back of the retina – macula. This segment of the retina takes care of central vision. AMD can be categorized into two namely, dry AMD and wet AMD. The most observed variant of AMD is dry AMD. This condition develops as a result of thinning of the macula with age and smaller clusters of protein get accumulated in it. The central vision will be blurry and it will progress slowly. Usually, it does not expand to peripheral vision, making it difficult to notice the problem in the early stages. Wet AMD is less common and a more serious problem. This condition develops as a result of new and abnormal blood vessels that start to grow under the retina scarring the macula. In this type of macular degeneration, vision loss is more severe […]