While most people prefer to age in their personal homes, sometimes that may become too difficult, and families begin looking at options for other care and housing solutions. One of the most popular is assisted living. Assisted living can be a good fit for a family’s needs; however, it is important that people who are considering assisted living do their homework in order to make a fully informed decision.
Most people think that they know what assisted living is and how it is different from other arrangements, but if they don’t fully understand it, they can end up with unmet needs, with higher costs than they anticipate, or they may be evicted or discharged with limited recourse.
Over the course of a few posts, we are going to outline some things that consumers need to be aware of if they are considering a move to assisted living.
What is assisted living? Here in Indiana where there is no standardized definition, or legal requirements for what constitutes assisted living. There are also no federal requirements for what defines assisted living. While some states do outline specific requirements for AL, in many states “assisted living” is a marketing term.
Here in Indiana, you may hear references to licensed and/or unlicensed assisted living. There is no actual licensure for assisted living. These are health care facilities, called residential care facilities that are licensed by the State Department of Health and who market themselves as assisted living. They tend to focus on medical or health care needs of their residents, often referred to as “medical model” assisted living.
There are also assisted living communities in the state that are not licensed residential care facilities. They provide the full range of non-medical supportive services that an individual may need, sometimes referred to as “social model” assisted living. If a person needs health-related care, families may need to hire outside help to meet health-related needs, or contract with a home health agency that the facility refers them to. While some home health services are paid for by Medicare, most of the personal care that a person needs must be paid out of pocket. It’s important at the beginning of a search for assisted living to have some idea of what type of support your family member may need. When you visit assisted living communities, ask for detailed information about what tasks and supports are included in the facility rate and provided by the facility itself and what kind of care activities are provided by the family or by a separate provider. This is a first step in starting to identify the place that is right for your family and your older loved one.