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Here’s what you need to know about assisted living communities. 

Have you ever wondered why some retirement communities are specifically referred to as assisted living and others aren’t?

Sometimes we hear clients say they recently moved their parents into an assisted living facility. (By the way, we try to avoid the word ‘facility’ because no one – we mean NO ONE – wants to live in a facility. We like ‘community’ much better!). Nonetheless, when people say this, what they really mean is that their parents moved to a retirement community – not necessarily an assisted living type.

Assisted living communities (see how much nicer that sounds) are licensed within the state in which they provide residential services – healthcare services that is. In addition to a place to live, assisted living is designed to provide things like medication management, three meals per day, and assistance with bathing, dressing, and grooming.

“People who move into assisted living communities can usually live their lives independently as long as they have a little help.”

Assisted living is NOT the same as a long term care community (a.k.a. nursing home). This is usually where the confusion comes in. To clarify, nursing communities may offer similar services as assisted living communities, but their level of licensure is higher, and the services they offer are even more involved. 

People who move into assisted living communities can usually live their lives independently as long as they have a little help. 

So, why don’t more people move into assisted living rather than into long term care communities if they only need minimal support?  The short answer is “cost.” Assisted living is almost always private pay and very few accept Medicaid (state health insurance) as a pay source.  This topic, however, is for another day.

If you have any questions about how to become more educated on the many residential living options available to seniors, please reach out to us via phone or email. 

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