If you or a loved one is in the process of attempting to qualify for long term care support in Massachusetts, there will be several different terms with which you’ll need to become familiar. One of these is ADLs.
ADLs refer to activities of daily living and the evaluation of these ADLs can help you and loved ones determine when a family member needs more advanced care, such as that provided by an in-home nurse or in nursing home. Activities of daily living refer to activities and daily functions that individuals usually do without help when they are in good health. These functions include dressing, bathing, continence, toileting, eating and transferring from one location to another. When multiple ADLs are impaired due to a person’s physical or mental conditions, this can prompt them to get support in the form of a nursing home.
A conversation with an experienced elder lawyer in Massachusetts could be the first step towards creating a comprehensive elder law plan that factors in various financial resources that could be used to pay for this care. ADLs are very important since you’ll need to show that you or a loved one has a need for additional support due to inability to carry out multiple ADLs.
Many people end up self-paying for nursing home stays because they are under the impression that Medicare will cover these expenses and find out only too late that their financial savings may be depleted quickly. Most people in Massachusetts are in the middle ground between having substantial resources to pay for care on their own and few enough resources to qualify for Medicaid. Advanced planning can help to tackle this gap.
