When the faculties of one or both of your parents begin to decline, their housing arrangement may need to change.
Many of us don’t know any options short of a nursing home.
The good news is that, since seniors started living outside extended families over the last 50 years, housing options of every kind have developed to serve them.
This articles gives you an introduction to three major types: Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care.
When browsing these options, the typical housing attributes--structural quality, space, beauty, location, ownership vs. rental, condo or coop--are in play, but an equal concern must be given to onsite assistance for the “Activities with Daily Living” (ADL) that your parent requires from their new home, e.g. housekeeping, communication systems, grooming care, nursing care, onsite medical facilities, easy-ambulation design, recreational options, etc.
Current trends being what they are, transportation amenities outside of the ambulance are now regularly replaced by rideshare services (Lyft, Uber, etc.).
Of course, as we approach Nursing Homes and Hospice Care, senior living arrangements intensify in assistance with ADL.
Consider this blog a first step in exploring this particular band of the senior living field. If more details on this range of facilities is needed, links to fuller treatments of the option are given below.
Independent Living
Independent Living facilities are designed for healthy, active seniors.
They offer an escape from home maintenance worries, enhanced neighborhood security, the fellowship of age-group peers, and recreation opportunities.
These seniors usually remain fit enough to drive.
Their units come with kitchens, but central dining meal plans are available. Continental breakfast is usually a minimum offering.
Services of various types--laundry, housekeeping, massage, etc--are frequently offered a la carte.
On-call clinical services are sometimes a part of the package, but these facilities aren’t licensed to provide a fuller level of care.
Assisted Living Facilities
Assisted Living Facilities are a step up from Independent Living and are typically regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services as medical assistance organizations.
They provide meals and housekeeping and fulsome assistance with ADL including incontinence care. Residents receive three prepared meals in a congregate dining room, and usually 2-3 hours of daily personal service in grooming, dressing, teeth-brushing, dispensing medication, housekeeping, etc. A weekly calendar of events administered by an activities director is often a part of community life.
Facilities may have their own regularly-scheduled bus service that ferries residents to shopping centers, and/or feature in-house taxis for individual trips.
Alzheimer’s, Dementia or Memory Care
This senior living category includes institutions fully committed to caring for elders who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, lapsed memories or dementia, as well as establishments that dedicate just a wing or floor to help these residents.
In addition to the services common to other full-care facilities, there are interventions for residents who might wander. Thorough assistance for the the completion of ADL is offered, including personal feeding, if needed. Privacy is more limited and doors have security alarms. The staff does in-room safety checks and there’s special signage to prompt residents who might be easily confused.
Therapies for skill retraining and maintaining or rebuilding memory are integrated, and residents are led to participate in pastimes and hobbies they loved and invested in before.