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Assisted living is for more independent seniors. These are seniors who can generally take care of themselves with a helping hand here or there. If one of the following descriptions fits your loved one, assisted living might be a good fit for them.
Someone who is extremely independent might have a hard time adjusting to assisted living. If someone can generally take care of themselves completely, another retirement community is probably a better fit.
On the other end of the spectrum, someone who needs a ton of care might need a higher level of care. This could include someone who needs 24/7 help to get around and conduct their lives. A better fit for someone who needs a lot of hands to help should look into options such as a nursing home.
Assisted living has a broad range of costs. Depending on geography, the luxury of the facility, and several other factors, basic costs can range from $2,000-$10,000 a month. The average price of a facility is around $3,000-$4,000 a month. This can be very surprising for families starting to look at care. Sometimes this cost can be negotiated depending on the facility and how many vacancies that it currently has. In addition to a basic fee per month, assisted living facilities typically have several add on fees. These can include moving in fees, personal care fees, meal fees, and community fees. These fees can add up quickly, and it is a common problem to think that you are paying for a service later to find out that you have to pay hundreds or even thousands of more dollars a month.
Move-in fees can be highly variable. Some facilities don’t have a move-in fee while other facilities have a one-month rent move-in fee.
One of the biggest complaints when searching for an assisted living facility is that the facilities are very secretive about their price. However, at My Caring Plan, we’ve tried to either gather cost information manually or estimate it to the best of our abilities.
There are different types of cost structures, depending on the facility. These models are an all-inclusive model, a level of care model, and fee for service model.
This is one payment per month for everything that your senior needs. This includes care assistance for your senior, such as bathing, laundry, transportation, and whatever else your senior might need help with. This also includes all meals at the dining room, security, recreational activities, and much more.
Sometimes a facility will have several different tiers to choose from. These tiers have a difference in how many amenities your loved one has access to. Lower tiers might not have access to personal care, cooked meals, and medication management. Make sure to ask questions as it is essential to understand precisely what you are paying for when you choose a specific tier.
Most fee-for-service models include rent and meals. Every additional amenity your senior wants or needs they have to pay for. In most fee-for-service models, there is an option to pay for hourly care for your loved one.
Most assisted living facilities offer daily living activities (ADLs), medication management, and health care management and monitoring. The medication management level can depend on the facility, so make sure to ask questions. Facilities can also help with coordinating doctor’s appointments and provide 24-hour monitoring of its members.
Assisted living typically features a long list of amenities. Here are some examples of amenities that are often given:
Assisted Living facilities offer a wide range of living options. These can include private rooms, shared rooms with another resident, and double rooms. Depending on the facility, there might be more options available. Most apartments offer some kitchen space and private bathrooms.
Assisted living is sometimes located in a hospital and can also be a part of a broader senior living community that might include nursing homes.
In most states, assisted living facilities are registered or licensed. Most state government websites have reports of the conditions of assisted living facilities. Many states will send a government employee to the facilities’ site to overview a facility’s condition and create a report. These reports can include information about when a facility has been fined for breaking code.
Assisted living can go by many names, depending on where you live. Some of the most common ones are assisted living residences, community residential care facilities, personal care homes, residential care homes, residential care facilities for the elderly, and assisted housing programs.
My Caring Plan has combined data sources from several different areas of the web to create one place where you can browse and find the best facility for your loved one. Once you find some facilities that you’re interested in, we have partnered with senior living advisors across the country that know your city well, the communities within it, and will help you find the best place for your loved one.