There is a potpourri of housing options—which come in all sizes, settings, and shapes—on the market for seniors. (A very helpful article posing questions to be considered in choosing a facility is at
Nursing Home Guidelines) Briefly, housing options generally fall into 4 categories based on level of services and/or care provided:
(1 ) Independent Living Retirement Communities: These complexes are for seniors who are able to live on their own, but want the convenience of a comprehensive service package. Meals, housekeeping, activities, transportation, and security are provided to active older adults.
(2) "Assisted Living" Facilities: In addition to the services mentioned above, these facilities provide personal care assistance to residents. This means that, in addition to housekeeping services, residents receive assistance in managing their medications and a helping hand with bathing, grooming, and dressing, if needed. Settings can range from three or more older people in a homelike setting, to dozens of residents in an institutional environment.
(3) Nursing homes: Nursing homes offer continuous round-the-clock nursing care as well as other support services in a single setting. Nursing homes are certified to provide different levels of nursing and medical services, from custodial to skilled nursing (services that can only be administered by a trained professional).
(4) Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs also called Life Care Communities) provide a range of services from independent living to nursing home care. Residents can move from one area of the community to another as they need more services.
Other options are group homes, share housing, adult foster care, home and community care. Elder cottage housing (commonly known as ECHO housing), which consists of small manufactured homes that can be attached to a single-family residence, is another.
Your mother should be aware that there are several misconceptions about senior housing that can cause problems down the line. For example, a senior can be discharged from an independent living or an assisted care facility if the facility determines that the person needs a higher level of care than the facility can provide. The person can appeal the decision, but the facilities have quite a bit of discretion. CCRCs, which provide several levels of care, usually involve the payment of a substantial entry fee, and guarantee people a place as long as they need one. These facilities don’t, however, necessarily guarantee the person a place in the nursing home in the same facility where the independent and assisted living residents are located. If that nursing facility is full, residents are sometimes sent to some other facility. This can be a serious hardship, first of all because the person did not inspect or agree to the other facility, and second because spouses, other relatives, or friends may still live in the independent or assisted living sections of the original facility. They might have assumed that they would always be close together and able to visit each other easily.
To avoid this or other kinds of nasty surprises on down the line, it could be worthwhile to consult a
healthcare attorney link before you or your mother sign any agreement for senior housing to make sure you know exactly what you’re agreeing to and that you’re getting what you want. An attorney can also help sort out all the possible options and any funding or government assistance programs that might be available.