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When looking at nursing homes and assisted living communities for long-term care for your loved one, there are several factors to consider. There are important differences between these senior living options, so you want to choose the best type of facility that matches the health care needs and personal preferences of your family member. Considerations include the level of care and type of assistance that is needed, your loved one’s mental and physical health status, and their personal desires. If cost is a concern, you’ll need to find a solution that is within your budget or have a plan in place for help with expenses.
In this article, we examine the difference between assisted living facilities and nursing homes, and how to determine the right choice for your loved one. Assured Assisted Living is your premiere resource for expert residential care.
A nursing home is designed for acute medical rehabilitation or long-term medical care and doesn’t offer the variety of recreational and social activities that assisted living facilities do. There are typically fewer residents in an assisted living facility.
One of the advantages of a nursing facility is that it includes 24-hour skilled nursing care, with limited medical treatments available. A nursing facility can accommodate those who need assistance to move around, and daily medical care is available.
However, there are several disadvantages of a nursing facility. Although some nursing homes are smaller, most are large institutional facilities with on average 100 residents. There is a lower caregiver to resident ratio, which leads to less personalized care.
Nursing homes tend to have limited activities, and while they have common indoor areas, outside areas are limited. Nursing home care is more expensive than assisted living.
A main advantage of an assisted living facility is that it provides long-term care in a comfortable, home-like, social setting. There are fewer residents than in a nursing home (the average is 50), with a higher caregiver to resident ratio and more personalized care.
Senior living communities typically offers a wide range of social and recreational activities, in addition to non-medical transportation. Accommodations are in private or shared apartments and studios with private baths and kitchenettes, with common living space and spacious outside grounds. A common misconception is that nursing home care is the only option for someone living with Alzheimer’s, but people with dementia can do very well in an assisted living community. This is especially true when there is a special memory care unit. Assisted living is less expensive than a nursing home.
The primary disadvantage of assisted living is that it doesn’t include round-the-clock skilled nursing care and is usually not designed for people who have trouble moving around.
However, the medicalization of assisted living is having an impact on long-term care environments. Many medical services can now be brought into senior living facilities through home health services. These include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and wound care.
When comparing the staffing at assisted living communities and nursing homes, you should focus on the direct care staff — that is, caregivers who provide support and assistance to residents who cannot perform routine daily activities without help. The direct care staff to resident ratio at a nursing home (home health aides, CNAs or caregivers) can be as high as 1 to 14. This means that each caregiver may have 14 patients to attend to. The same can also be true with some of the larger senior living facilities.
A nursing facility can cost nearly twice as much as a senior living community. The average monthly cost for nursing home care is $7,441, compared to approximately $4,000 for an assisted living community and $4,800-$5,200 for supervised dementia care.
This depends on your loved one’s needs and desires. If they require 24-hour medical care, a nursing home may be more appropriate. If they need assistance with daily activities, supervision, plus recreation and social opportunities in a home-like setting, an assisted living facility is better.
The next level of care is usually a nursing home, with round-the-clock medical care. However, it is possible to get a high level of care for your family member in a comfortable home-like environment. Assured Assisted Living offers a unique, customized approach to senior living.
At Assured Assisted Living, our mission of to provide our residents with the highest level of care while helping them to achieve their goal of independent living as much as possible. We specialize in individualized memory care for those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Assured offers:
Contact us today to learn more about our personalized dementia and memory care services.
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