Reprinted from Journal of Aging Studies, vol. 18, no. 3., C. Wellin & D.J. Jaffe, In Search of "Personal Care": Challenges to Identity Support in Residential Care for Elders with Cognitive Illness, pp. 275-295, Copyright © (2004), with permission from Elsevier.

The term "personal care" is commonly used by scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners in long-term care. However, the term has quite varied meanings and implications, among lay versus professional people. This ambiguity can be a barrier to achieving collaboration between formal (paid) and informal (i.e., familial) providers of care, which is especially important for older adults with Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive illnesses.
This article is based on a multi-year ethnographic case study of a residential care facility. (Published in Journal of Aging Studies, vol. 18, no.3, [August]: 275-295).

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