If you’re a senior looking into services for yourself, or an adult child trying to help an aging parent, you may feel as though you need a special dictionary to understand all of the terminology that is thrown around.
It can certainly be confusing when you’re not really sure what questions to ask and then you get an answer that is unclear. Not to worry, EAAA has put together a list of commonly used terms that you may find useful in your quest for information.
- Caregiver: Someone who provides unpaid assistance (cooking, cleaning, transportation) to someone else, usually a loved one.
- Activities of Dialy Living: Commonly called ADLs, the term is used when describing things like personal care, eating, and walking.
- Incidental Activities of Daily Living: Commonly called IADLs, the term is used to describe things such as help with money management, meal preparation, medications, and laundry.
- Assisted Living: Facilities like housing complexes for seniors who live independently in private apartments but may need a little help with ADLs.
- Residential Care: Facilities that offer similar services to assisted living facilities but residents live in a private or semi-private room.
- Continual Care Retirement Communities: Facilities offer long-term options to meet a senior’s changing needs. One may start out living independently then as time passes may move to assisted living or even a skilled nursing unit if necessary.
This is just a brief glimpse into eldercare terms, stay tuned in the following weeks for more terms to add to your “aging dictionary.”
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