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Articles

Home Care vs. Non-Home Care

Did You Know?

An Assisted Living Facility is a residence for people who need help with personal care such as bathing, dressing, grooming and eating.

An Assisted Living Facility is for seniors who require supervision and some daily care, but limited onsite medical services. An Assisted Living Facility is not a medical or nursing facility. Approximately 33,000 Assisted Living Facilities exist in the U.S. today.

What is an Assisted Living Facility?

An Assisted Living Facility is a residence for people who need help with personal care (also called custodial care), such as:

bathing
dressing
grooming
eating

Daily contact with supervisory staff is the defining characteristic of an Assisted Living Facility. Besides needing help with some activities of daily living, residents in an Assisted Living Facility usually also require supervision of daily activities that they are able to carry out for themselves.

Medical care is limited in an Assisted Living Facility, but it may be possible to contract for some medical needs.

The average Assisted Living Facility holds 24 residents.

Assisted Living Facilities are also called

Personal care
Residential care
Domiciliary care
Sheltered housing

How is an Assisted Living Facility different from a Board-and-Care Home, a Nursing Home, or Congregate Housing?

Assisted Living Facilities offer assisted daily living (personal or custodial) care, but no or very little medical care. A Board-and-Care Home offers the same services as an Assisted Living Facility, but is smaller.

An Assisted Living Facility differs from a Nursing Home in that

an Assisted Living Facility does not offer extensive medical care, as a Nursing Home does, and
privacy is more emphasized in an Assisted Living Facility.

Congregate Housing ordinarily offers both custodial and medical care, while Assisted Living focuses on custodial care. Congregate Housing is more independent than Assisted Living, however. Residents in Congregate Housing have separate senior apartments, although they may choose to eat together in a communal dining room. Residents in an Assisted Living Facility live in rooms or apartments of a shared facility, and they generally eat together, rather than cook for themselves. These two types of housing and care have some overlap.

What kind of person needs Assisted Living?

An Assisted Living Facility is for people who can't live on their own, but who don't need Nursing Home services. Residents may need assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as:

bathing
dressing
cooking
eating
housekeeping
transportation

If a number of services are required, an Assisted Living Facility is more economical than home care services. In addition, when scheduling of multiple services becomes a problem in the home, an Assisted Living Facility may be the answer.

An Assisted Living Facility is often the first stop for an elder who needs to leave home to get help with daily living. Some residents move on to a Nursing Home. Or residents may come from a Nursing Home or hospital after a period of rehabilitation.

What type of housing or living area does assisted living provide?

Assisted Living Facilities are residential in character, although there is no standard size or building. An Assisted Living Facility can be in a high-rise building, a converted school, or a large home. Residents may live in a room or in a complete apartment.

What services does Assisted Living offer?

The basic services in an Assisted Living Facility are:

Three meals a day, often served in a restaurant-like setting, with menus and salad bars
24-hour supervision and assistance
Housekeeping
Transportation
Shopping
Laundry service
Personal-care services such as bathing, dressing, grooming, and eating
Some assistance with medications
Social, religious, and educational activities
Help in exercising
Some health care services

In addition, the following may be available:

Recreation rooms
Exercise rooms
Outdoor gardens
Libraries
Chapels

Can Assisted Living handle special needs?

Some Assisted Living Facilities can handle special needs, such as:

Cognitive disabilities
Short-term care
Respite Care (care so that caregivers can take a break)
Interim medical care after a hospital stay
Alzheimer's
Parkinson's
Terminal illnesses (Hospice Care)

What is the cost for an Assisted Living Facility?

An Assisted Living Facility costs from $50 to $90 per day, or $18,000 to $33,000 per year