What is Senior Living?

Many years ago, the only senior living concept that was available was nursing homes. To this day, these facilities offer 24/7 skilled nursing care for seniors who can no longer live on their own and require medical assistance. Nursing homes are for older adults with severe illnesses or injuries, who may require short-term, post-acute, or long-term medical care.

Since then, senior living has evolved into a variety of meanings and levels of care, but it mostly refers to improving quality of life, maintaining independence, and being treated with respect and dignity in a warm and comforting environment. Senior living is all about meeting the healthcare, social, physical, and emotional needs of seniors. Life-enriching amenities and activities are offered to help seniors age safely in place.

A variety of senior living communities are available to provide seniors with a variety of levels of care to ensure their specific needs are met. These include:

• Retirement communities for seniors, or independent living, who can live independently but don’t want to deal with the headaches of household chores, meal preparation, home maintenance, or yard work.
• Assisted living is perfect for seniors who need a little help with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and medication management, as well as housekeeping, laundry, meals, and other daily tasks.
• Memory care is provided for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and requires a higher level of care but still offers a quality senior lifestyle.

Various types of senior living options offer residential care in a facility-type environment where residents can live in a studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom apartment or in family-style homes where there are a limited number of seniors residing in an actual home. These residential homes consist of a kitchen and living room to provide a homelike atmosphere and usually have a high staff-to-resident ratio to provide more one-on-one care.

Contact us to find out which option best fits the needs of your loved ones.