Assisted Living Guide
AssistedLivingGuide.com is for the elder needing long term care facilities and for those who, relatives or friends, will be searching and evaluating assisted living care for their loved one. We list the many types personal care and assisted living facilities and homes that are available in your state. Find and compare:
Assisted Living Facilities have many names, sometimes depending on what part of the country you are in, such as:
- Adult congregate living
- Adult assisted living homes
- Senior living
- Edlercare
- Personal care homes
- Assisted living centers
- in home care
- Assisted living
- Senior care services
- Independent living
- Retirement home
- Homecare
- Sheltered housing
- Senior care
- Elder care
- Long term care
- Home care
Popular for Assisted Living:
- Miami, FL
- Charlotte, NC
- Baltimore, MD
- Reston, VA
- Atlanta, GA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Raleigh, NC
- Boston, MA
- Florida
- California
- Nevada
Assisted Living Resources
Find an Assisted Living or
Skilled Nursing Facility in:
Residential care facilities inclulde assisted living facilities and personal care homes which provide housing and supportive services to persons who cannot live independently but generally do not require the skilled level of care provided by nursing homes.
When you're already under stress trying to find appropriate care for an older loved one, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the avalanche of information. Making it even worse is the fact that the industry is not standardized, so many types of facilities and care are known by several different names. Our glossary is designed to help you understand the terminology, types of care and other information you will need to know in order to make the right decision for your family.
"The staff at our mom's assisted living facility have been great. They are well trained and know it is a hard choice for some families. It makes us all sleep better at night knowing she is safe and well taken care of."
What is Assisted Living?
Assisted living is essentially a generic term describing facilities for people needing assistance with day to day living activities.
There are times when someone may need help in dealing with common tasks that have become difficult due to physical limitations. Assisted living is a means of providing the appropriate care for those people who are elderly or who may have disabilities in certain areas, but are otherwise capable in others. This is a form of care that performs services to aid in activities such as:
- laundry
- housekeeping
- preparing meals
- dressing
- bathing
- activities that are difficult for someone to perform entirely for themselves
Some assisted living facilities may also have provisions in the way of minor medical care and assistance with medications. Assisted living facilities are designed for people who require a degree of help with Activities of Daily Living, or ADLs, yet are still capable of maintaining a relatively independent lifestyle.
Assisted living is not to be considered as a replacement for, or an alternative to a nursing home. The major difference lies in the fact that it is a more appropriate way to support and enhance an individual's life by helping them overcome the limitations they may be faced with. These could include minor physical disabilities or even confusion and memory problems that may be hard to for a person to deal with alone.
Nursing homes, on the other hand, are specifically designed for those who have extensive health considerations that make them unable to take care of themselves without constant or acute care. Assisted living is intended for people who require regular help in a few particular areas in their lives, but can manage most on their own.
Assisted living exists to many varying degrees. In some cases, people may have only slight health considerations. They still may not desire to maintain a home and will elect to live where lawn care, food preparation and other minor chores are taken care of for them. Programs are additionally available to accommodate more extensive needs that may be required for each person's situation.
Assisted Living Facilities
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ranks nursing
home facilities based on government inspection results, staffing data
and quality measures. This "Nursing Home Compare" system, which gives
one to five stars to 16,000 nursing homes, is available at medicare.gov/NHCompare.
Consumers should also check with states and other sources to get a better
picture of facilities.
Assisted
Living in 20 Years: What Does the Future Hold?
Here's what baby boomers will see when they're ready for assisted living.
Residents of assisted living facilities will be easily able to alert
caregivers if they need help. Auditory or visual prompts will be available
for assisted living residents who need help remembering or completing
tasks
Assisted living facilities are included in a report on long term care quality that suggests the same quality measures should apply to all care settings, that licensure or certification ensure acceptable performance, and that quality reports be disseminated through a government quality Web site that tracks quality, such as Nursing Home Compare.