Livetexts Assignment #2

1. The fundamental difference between is that one is a residential facility, while the other is
not. Adult day-care facilities are typically not residential, and its patrons are typically
dropped off and picked up on a daily basis. Adult day-care facilities are frequented older
adults who need help readjusting to home life after being discharged from the hospital.
They also serve the purpose of giving the caretakers of their patrons a break. Skilled
nursing facilities are typically residential. The people staying at skilled nursing facilities
are cared for around the clock and typically rarely leave. Institutionalism is defined as the
use of public institutions for the care of people who are physically or mentally disabled,
criminally delinquent, or incapable of independent living.
2. Social support is defined as the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has
assistance available from other people, and most popularly, that one is part of a
supportive social network. Having social support provides many benefits to all people,
especially those in late adulthood. Older adults who provide social support to others
typically higher levels of positive emotions, lower levels of negative emotions, greater
purpose in life, and even reduced mortality. During late adulthood, friendships and family
relationships help support older adults deal with loss and aging, keep older adults linked
to the outside world, and reinforce feelings of belonging.
3. Autobiographical memory is a type of memory that consists of individuals remembering
their life in an episodic manner. It is considered a mix of episodic and semantic memory.
Episodic memory is the memory of past life experiences with specifics times and
locations attached to it. Semantic memory is the memory of general world knowledge
that has been gathered and stored throughout one’s life. The most common mental
disorder among old people is dementia. One hallmark of dementia is memory loss, as
people affected by this disorder often have trouble recalling things very recent events.