Dealing With Chronic Disabilities

One false step on a cellar staircase, an automobile accident, a stroke, and overnight, any of us could end up with disabilities that make us dependent on others for the simplest tasks. We are all vulnerable to the effects of disability, whether it's a matter of caring for an elderly parent devastated by a stroke, supporting a co-worker who has Parkinson’s, or hearing about a neighbor's baby born with mental retardation. Many San Diego assisted living facilities employ staff that are specifically trained to help you live with a chronic disability.

According to Chronic Care in America, "In 1995, one in six Americans--41 million people-- had a chronic condition that inhibited their lives to some degree." Among the conditions counted are arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, Alzheimer's disease, blindness, hearing impairments, mental retardation, mental illness, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injuries. The report says, "At least 9 million people with disabilities need help either with personal care or home management (40 percent are under age 65)."

Disability rates increase with age. According to the report, in 1994, nearly 40 percent of the elderly not living in institutions--12 million seniors--were limited by chronic conditions. Of these, 3 million (about 10 percent of all elderly) were unable to perform such activities as bathing, shopping, dressing, or eating.

Heart disease accounts for 13 percent of all activity limitations, and injuries cause 13 percent of all disabilities. These two facts, alone, point to the large potential to reduce disabilities by convincing Americans to adopt better nutrition, health and exercise habits and to think ahead about building or retrofitting homes to make them safer and more convenient. Getting the proper medical care you require is important and that is what assisted living San Diego provides seniors with disabilities. Living at home with a chronic, life changing disability requires expert care and treatment.

Services for seniors with chronic conditions, however, are still concentrated in the periods when they need acute care rather than in phases when prevention or rehabilitation services would be beneficial. Costly hospitalizations might be avoided if certain types of services were more affordable and available--transportation to the doctor; installation of railings and ramps; physical therapy to strengthen muscles to prevent falls; education in use of assistive devices; counseling to prevent malnutrition; and provision of home care aides to shop, prepare meals, and assist with personal care.

Working together, the aging and disability networks can make a difference in where and how comfortably Americans spend the last decades of their lives. It is important that you get the care you need, whether in home care or at a San Diego assisted living facility - there are networks out there ready to help you with your lifelong disability.