When is it time to consider senior housing or assisted care facilities?

How do you choose the best senior housing options or determine which Assisted Living will provide quality care?

How can you help an elderly loved one adjust to a new home in a retirement community?

Our Florida geriatric care managers work with many families on navigating these issues.  The right decisions and handling of a transition can make all the difference between a negative experience and a welcoming experience to a new home.

In Florida, these are the basic types of senior housing categories:

1. Independent Living-this covers a wide range of senior housing, from subsidized senior apartment complexes and mobile home parks, to retirement communities and villas (sometimes within a larger complex of other levels of care).
2. Assisted Living-communities designed to provide seniors assistance with activities of daily living.  These communities are typically apartment-style with communal dining and activities and offer services such as medication management, transportation and physical help.
3. Nusing Facility-skilled nursing facilities or nursing homes provide a higher level of care in a more medically-oriented setting.  Nurses oversee care and facilities may offer various levels of skilled care and more intensive ADL assistance (i.e. for bed-bound residents, total assistance with all needs).
4. CCRC (Continuing Care Community)-communities with various levels of care (generally covering the 3 listed above), these communities may be “buy in”/investment style or may be on a monthly-rental basis.

These are just the basic categories of senior housing, but there is a great deal of variation even within the state of Florida in terms of what is provided, costs and quality.  You may also wish to read our article “Is the Time Right?  Assisted Living Options” which gives more information about deciding when to consider senior housing and links to information about regulations and ratings of Florida senior housing and assisted living.