An Alternative to Traditional Assisted Living

Assisted living facilities are a great resource for elderly folk in need of extra care, but they are certainly not designed for everyone. If you have an elderly loved one that is adamantly opposed to living in such a safe setting, make sure that they are aware of all of the benefits that come with assisted living. You cannot force someone strongly against assisted living into a home in the vast majority of cases, so it will benefit you to know that there are good alternatives to assisted living available. You just need to know where to go looking for this care.

One trend that is growing in the senior care community is continuing care retirement communities. This is only found in a handful of locations around the U.S., but basically, it is a way for seniors in need of assistance to get assisted living facility type help without having to leave their homes. This is a great tool for senior citizens and provides a lot more support than just basic in home care could provide. For example, your basic in home care is for only a few hours, five days per week. For many people, this is enough, but as we get older, we might end up needing a higher degree of help. If you have an untrained caregiver, this might turn out to be too overwhelming for them. Instead, make sure that your caregiver is fully trained and able to adapt to your changing needs.

Another benefit of these retirement communities is that if you are receiving in home care and your condition begins to warrant that you must move to an assisted living facility, in many cases, your caregiver can go with you. This might not seem like a big deal, but your first days in assisted living can be lonely and just plain scary. Having a familiar face there to help you through this tough transition time can make a world of difference in making you feel like you are at home.

Typical continuing care outfits can be extremely expensive. This does not need to be the case, though. Rather than living in a senior community with a lot of on-site amenities, you can remain in your own home and have a caregiver come to you, even if you don't live in a specially created senior living community. Senior living is a great concept, but again, it's not for everyone. Most people want to avoid moving as much as possible. This is why staying in the home until more intensive care is needed is a great option. This concept has been practiced for a while, but is starting to become more and more popular across the U.S.