The oldest old and personal activities of daily living

The aim of this study was to evaluate the actual function of the personal activities of daily living in old people living in nursing homes and in the community. Another purpose was to evaluate and document the nursing load. The assessments were made over a four-week period. Two groups of individuals, aged 80 years or older, were compared with respect to ability to perform activities of daily living. The first group comprised old people who had been resident in nursing homes for at least six months, while those in the other group lived alone in the community and received some kind of assistance from the home service providers. The subjects in the latter group were less disabled than those residing in nursing homes. Age group comparisons among nursing-home residents showed no significant differences in the capacity of residents to function in activities of daily living, nor in the case of those living in the community. The nursing staff in the nursing-home setting had a heavier work-load than those working in the community concerning performance of personal activities of daily living. Caring for old people in institutions as well as in the community creates substantial challenges for the care personnel.