Assisted Living Facilities

Assisted Living Facilities as an alternative to Nursing Home Care 

Some elderly people dread ever going into nursing home care. This is because they are frightened that they are going to forfeit their independent living and freedom. Scared that there isn't going to be any privacy ever again.

The alternative to a Care Home is Assisted Living Facilities, popularly known as ALF. These facilities are for senior citizens needing assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) but wishing to live as independently as possible for as long as possible. Assisted living bridges the gap between independent living and nursing home care.

Elderly residents living in an assisted living facility are not able to live completely independently but neither do they require constant home care. Assisted living facilities offer help with ADLs such as eating, bathing, dressing, laundry, housekeeping, and assistance with medications. Many facilities also have centers for medical care; however, the care offered may not be as intensive or available to residents as the care offered at a nursing home or nursing convalescent home.

The decision as to whether to send your loved one to an assisted living facility or a nursing home depends on many factors. And these factors are what differentiate the two.

• Place: Whilst an assisted living facility is a place for one or a few individuals at a time, a nursing home houses many elderly persons. The former is for housing an individual who is given all the help and assistance he or she needs but a nursing home is a home for many elderly. 
• Cost: The cost of an assisted living facility is rather on the high side. This is because it is an apartment like setting, a sort of suite. On the other hand, the nursing home is cheaper because there are many elderly residents there who will share the burden of the cost of living in the home. 
• Facilities: The facility in the assisted living facility is meant for an individual whilst the facilities in the nursing home are provided for all the elderly residents residing in the home.

In an assisted living facility, skilled nursing care is not usually provided by the staff; however, it generally is made available on an as-needed basis through skilled nursing care providers. A nursing/convalescent home is typically a hospital-like environment, in which your loved one lives. The environment provides full-scale skilled nursing home care.

Unlike nursing homes that are designed to care for very frail elderly people that are not able to care for themselves and have numerous health care requirements, the assisted living facilities are designed to assist elderly people who are able to mainly care for themselves except for a few activities.

Assisted living facilities are often deemed necessary when the person in question needs help preparing meals, bathing, dressing, performing household chores, is sometimes confused, or is experiencing memory problems. These types of problems are not the main reason why old or aged people are sent to the nursing home.

Don't forget that there is access to Medicare for someone at a nursing home whilst this may not be readily available while living in Assisted Living Facility.

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