What Is Assisted Living?

By Author: jhoana cooper
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An assisted living retirement facility is a location, which is much like a nursing home, although it will offer services in a more independent way than a traditional home might. When you look for living assistance residences, you and your parent will be looking for individual rooms or apartments in a complex where a number of seniors all live. There are dedicated staff members working at this facility, helping all of their residents with the daily tasks which they may need. Unlike a nursing home, the residents in assisted living facilities are largely independent, deciding on their own how they want to spend their time.

The nursing home environment is typically one where individuals stick on a schedule. Meals usually occur at a certain time and medications are handed out on schedule. There are group activities often offered through a home, although most are centrally located for the residents who do not have a great mobility. Staff members at a nursing location will often have a heavy interaction with all of the residents, helping them to get around when they are having problems with mobility. This is often not ...
... the case at an assisted living facility, as most of the seniors there are incredibly mobile and will take care of everything on their own.

Staff members with assisted living experience will step in when help is needed with certain tasks. Lifting heavy objects should always be performed by staff members, which can often be the case with groceries and other items being brought into the apartments. In the cases where someone is having problems with arthritis or muscle soreness, help could be given when dressing or bathing. With assisted living, however, the residents are typically not feeble and can move around on their own, taking care of most of their daily tasks.

The nursing home residents will require the attention which usually does not come from assisted living. The staff at a nursing home is better equipped to handle daily problems which their residents may face and this will help those residents to continue with their normal lives as much as possible. Nursing home residents will also typically be in worse health conditions than those residents at assisted living facilities, meaning that more frequent medical attention will be needed in a home. Choosing the right location for your parent is going to require attention to be paid to the particular needs which your parent has with medical and daily issues.

This does not mean that the quality of life at one is better than the other, however. In both locations, a healthy social life is always encouraged between the residents. Activities are often offered at both nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Both types of residences will often have full kitchens which provide meals to all of the residents. This will help you to ensure that your parent is always getting proper nutrition through healthy meals. Should your parent have any special dietary needs, the kitchen will be able to specially prepare meals which cater to this. Both types of staff will be able to help your parent live as comfortably as possible, so you will need to consider which location is going to better serve your parent's particular needs.
A nursing home and an assisted living facility both can help your parent through their final years. Our Parents can help you find the best locations for each type and decide which will be a better fit for your aging parent.