Consider Your Options

Assisted Living:
Assisted living communities or assisted living facilities (ALFs) help promote health, safety and well-being among the senior residents that live there. Assisted Living is a licensed residential setting that provides 24-hour care and supervision to seniors who need assistance. Assisted living was developed as a type of senior housing to provide housing, health care and personal care services to seniors in need of assistance with activities of daily living in a more independent environment than a traditional nursing or convalescent home.

Assisted Living is designed for seniors who need assistance, but do not require around the clock nursing care. Assisted Living communities provide assistance with activities of daily living, medication management, social activities, housekeeping, meals, transportation, and may offer dementia care programs and health-related services. Assisted Living services promote maximum independence and dignity for each resident.


Assisted Living is a popular care option for many seniors. The best way to ensure that a community is prepared to meet specific needs is to work with an advisor to set up community tours with communities that can accommodate your needs. Communication, from the very beginning of the moving process, is key in determining the best option for your family member or loved one.

Alzheimer's Care:
Over 4.5 million people in the United States and 26 million worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. The disease destroys brain cells and symptoms can include confusion, anger, mood swings, language breakdown and long-term memory loss. Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease involves specialized services that differ from other types of senior housing.



Alzheimer's care is often delivered in an assisted living or nursing home setting usually in a separate floor or unit. Generally, the residents live in semi-private apartments and have structured activities delivered by staff members trained in Alzheimer's and dementia care. Most of these living environments have secured areas to prevent wandering, a common symptom of the disease. Often, residents have access to outdoor walking paths or gardens which are within secured areas.

Stand alone memory care communities called Alzheimer's special care units or memory care units also exist to better meet the specialized needs of residents with the disease. These memory care communities have been designed specifically for seniors suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia and often have features like a circular layout to ensure a resident won't encounter a 'dead-end' in a hallway (a potential source of stress for advanced cases of Alzheimer's).

When making a decision, it is important to ask if there is specialized care offered for residents with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.

Home Care:
"Home care" is a simple phrase that encompasses a wide range of health and social services. These services are delivered at home to recovering, disabled, chronically or terminally ill persons in need of medical, nursing, social, or therapeutic treatment and/or assistance with the essential activities of daily living.



Generally, home care is appropriate whenever a person prefers to stay at home but needs ongoing care that cannot easily or effectively be provided solely by family and friends. More and more older people, electing to live independent, non-institutionalized lives, are receiving home care services as their physical capabilities diminish. Younger adults who are disabled or recuperating from acute illness are choosing home care whenever possible. Chronically ill infants and children are receiving sophisticated medical treatment in their loving and secure home environments. Adults and children diagnosed with terminal illness also are being cared for at home, receiving compassionate care and maintaining dignity at the end of life. As hospital stays decrease, increasing numbers of patients need highly skilled services when they return home. Other patients are able to avoid institutionalization altogether, receiving safe and effective care in the comfort of their own homes.

Independent Living:
Among the many senior housing options available, Independent Living provides the greatest versatility and freedom. Independent Living for seniors refers to residence in a compact, easy-to-maintain, private apartment or house within a community of seniors. Any housing arrangement designed exclusively for seniors (generally those age 55+; in some cases the age requirement is 62+) may be classified as an Independent Living community.

Independent Living for seniors is also known as:
- Retirement Communities
- Retirement Homes
- Senior Apartments
- Senior Housing
- Independent Living Communities.

As the name implies, Independent Living is just that: the ability to maintain one's residence and lifestyle without custodial or medical assistance. If custodial or medical care becomes necessary, residents in Independent Living for seniors are permitted to bring in outside services of their choice.



Seniors who opt for Independent Living must be able to manage their home and personal needs on their own.  In an Assisted Living facility, by contrast, residents require and receive some custodial care, such as help with bathing, dressing, grooming, and eating. Medical care is limited. Some communities allow for independent living in separate houses or apartments, with the addition of both custodial (Assisted Living) care and medical (Nursing Home) care as necessary. Some communities allow residents can move back and forth between various facilities in the same general location, as their needs for care change over time. Independent Living by itself is entirely separate from nursing homes or assisted living facilities, which may be quite a distance away from the independent living community.

Nursing Home Care:
A Nursing Home, also known as a Skilled Nursing Facility or SNF, has Registered Nurses who help provide 24-hour care to people who can no longer care for themselves due to physical, emotional, or mental conditions. A licensed physician supervises each patient’s care and a nurse or other medical professional is almost always on the premises.  Most nursing homes have two basic types of services: skilled medical care and custodial care.

Skilled medical care includes services of trained professionals that are needed for a limited period of time following an injury or illness:

An R.N. doing wound care and changing dressings after a major surgery, or administering and monitoring I.V. antibiotics for a severe infection.

A physical therapist helping to correct strength and balance problems that have made it difficult for a patient to walk or get on and off the bed, toilet or furniture.

A speech therapist helping a person regain the ability to communicate after a stroke.

An occupational therapist helping a person relearn independent self-care in areas such as dressing, grooming and eating.

Skilled care may also be needed on a long term basis if a resident requires injections, ventilation or other treatment of that nature.

Custodial or personal care includes assistance with what are known as the activities of daily living, such as:
- bathing
- dressing
- eating
- grooming
- getting in and out of bed, or walking around
- toileting (incontinence care)

People who are able to recover from a disabling injury or illness, may temporarily need the custodial care as they are getting back the strength and balance to be independent again.  For people who are losing their ability to function independently due to chronic disease and increasing frailty, custodial care may be a long-term need.  In the most severe cases where a person is bed-bound, ongoing supervision by an RN is necessary along with the custodial care, to ensure proper hydration and nutrition and to prevent skin breakdown. If a custodial care resident becomes ill or injured, they may spend a period of time in skilled care, and then return to custodial care.  Whether a resident is under skilled or custodial care is important in terms of who provides the care and who pays for the services provided.