20 Apr

Which is better, assisted living or independent living?

There is a big difference between assisted living and independent living, taking into consideration the care of our seniors and their individual necessities.

Independent living 

The highlight of an independent living is that our seniors will not have a nurse next to them; usually in this kind of senior living community, the residents does not have a big health care issue, hence there is no need for medical staff to be there helping them with all their activities. Independent living is, just as the name, a more independent way of living for the seniors, these kinds of communities have more of social activities rather than nursing help.   

Assisted living

Unlike independent living, an assisted living community goes more for seniors with some kind of health condition with special necessities; our older family members that need special medical care. Its suggested for people who cannot do their daily living by themselves or need help to remember to take their medicine, to eat and showered, as an example. Therefore, people who need to be assisted. 

Main differences 

The main difference between assisted and independent living is without a doubt the type of care that we are giving to our senior member. With this in mind, it is important to consider the amenities that the living community is giving us, the kind of staff that we are looking for and the special care our love one need. 

Amenities and programing

It is important to consider, when enrolling our family member to a community, the kind of life they want to have with the proper care they need. If it is an independent living, you can do the research of the type of house or apartments that they offer, if they have activities and if our love one need transportation to reach to the places they use to go. For the assisted living, consider the medicine that our member need and if the living community offers meals, because not in every place they have a dinning service.

Special care

To enroll someone into an assisted living, you might need some papers to indicate the kind of care that the senior member needs, you need to enlist all the amenities that they have. It is important to be completely honest on how much of a special care our relative needs, even the small ones, like meals or special transportation if needed. 

Cost

Do not forget to always ask if there is an extra cost for services like dinning, medication or other services. Because as our love one deserves the best attention, we do not have to assume the nursing home will cover everything. Also, do not forget to not surpass your budget, it is important to always consider the expenses that might have come as having a family member in a nursing home. 

Which is right for me? 

At the end, it all depends on your needs (or our relative needs). An assisted living if you need some help to do your daily activities, an independent living if you want just some company on your daily life. So the best choice it is always the one that makes our loved one happy.