What to Consider When Selecting a Nursing Home or Assisted Living Facility

Of course, you would rather be at home. Sometimes, it just isn't possible to remain at home and still receive proper care. The decision must then be made whether to look for a retirement community, assisted living facility, or a nursing home. To select the best facility, you should be aware of several things.

First of all, you should understand the difference between a retirement community, an assisted living facility, and a nursing home. A retirement community is basically designed for the older individuals who can still completely care for themselves but want more opportunities to interact with people. Generally, a retirement community offers each person their own apartment or private living space, and does not employ people to assist them with daily living needs, but rather employs activity directors to plan outings or other events for the residents of the community.

An assisted living facility is a facility where the care plans are individualized for the client. The typical resident of an assisted living facility can still bathe, dress, groom, and toilet themselves, and are there to have someone cook for them, do the cleaning and laundry, and also have activities made available to them. Some assisted living facilities will also admit residents who have very high care needs, being completely unable to take care of themselves. This is something you should be especially concerned about. If your loved one is suffering from advanced dementia or alzheimers, an assisted living facility may seem like a more homelike environment than a nursing home, but you should be aware that many assisted living facilities are not equipped to deal with this kind of resident. An assisted living facility has state regulations preventing it from seeming too institutional, so while the homelike environment may seem desirable, you should ask yourself, "is it safe?" Are knives and other sharp objects kept locked up? Is there a security system on every exit to alert the staff of a resident leaving the building? In most assisted living facilities, the answer to those questions would be "no".