Defining Levels of Care

Amanda Massengale
Feb 12, 2019
4 min read

Updated: Feb 15, 2019

Within the broad topic of Senior Living there are many different living options for residents with different needs. As residents age, their needs begin to change causing a shift in their ideal living situation and required care. As years have passed, the senior living industry has grown immensely and shifted from the traditional idea of a care facility to different types of communities built specifically for the needs of senior residents.

In Home Senior Care can also be referred to as “aging in-place" as it heavily relies the most on certified medical professionals coming into the home of the senior citizen to assist and care for them. This can include mobility, medication distribution or even therapy sessions. Ultimately the goal of this type of care is to keep the senior citizen in their home rather than moving them into a new community if they are not in need of extensive care that may require hospital equipment or cognitive care (InspiredLiving.care, 2018). A similar alternative to In Home Senior Care is Adult Day Care. The idea behind Adult Day Care is to have someone to care for the senior citizen during the day while the normal caregiver, which could be a spouse or family member, are at work or involved in a daily routine. This route keeps the senior citizen in their own home but acts as an activity during the day for the citizen to engage in to keep their mind and body mobile. Both In Home Senior Care and Adult Day Care are less expensive ways to care for senior citizens as compared to higher levels of care and living, in that they also are centered around those who need less intensive care (AdultDayCare, n.d.).

Active Adult (AA) or Senior Apartments are built specifically with the end-user in mind, this being senior residents. AAs are kept staffed at all hours but are ran as a typical apartment style housing but usually have an age restriction of 55 and up. This style housing is beneficial for residents who are interested in a social community stocked with amenities such as outdoor spaces, workout rooms, dining rooms, and game areas. Active Adult communities are meant to promote an active lifestyle to the residents while also giving them a space of their own that may include a kitchen, living room, full bathroom, bedroom space, and a large closet with a washer and dryer of their own (Ginzler, 2009). Active Adult residents normally require no medical help and they are encouraged to live independently. Independent Living (IL) has a similar concept of keeping residents independent and social, but these communities have most health services on site along with shared amenities such as a shared dining space (InspiredLiving.care, 2018).

Assisted Living (AL) keeps the apartment style living but also includes full service, on site care for residents of the community (InspiredLiving.care, 2018). Residents in Assisted Living communities usually require help with basic daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and medication distribution. These communities usually include full-service dining and meals, housekeeping such as laundry, and transportation and security (Ginzler, 2009). Memory Care (MC) communities are designed similar to Assisted Living communities but they are designed specifically for residence with Alzheimer's and Dementia (APlaceForMom.com, n.d.). Memory Care communities require more hands-on help for residents, making most caregivers full-time, live-in employees. But, like Assisted Living, they also have access to direct medical help (SeniorLiving.org, n.d.).

Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) is a community that has a registered nurse on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is equipped to store and provide medication to residents. Skilled Nursing Facilities can be a place where residents go after being released from the hospital until they are well enough or mobile enough to go home. Staff at a Skilled Nursing Facility may be responsible for assisting residents with hygiene and meals while helping them recover from an illness, an injury or a surgery. Similar to Skilled Nursing Facilities are Nursing Homes which are a permanent living community that provides the same care but is meant for residents to stay long term. Skilled Nursing Facilities are only meant to be temporary help to residents who may need it (SeniorLiving.org, n.d.).

Hospice, or Comfort Care, can also be provided for an individual with a terminal illness to ultimately provide comfort for the resident at the end of their life. Rather than continuing to treat a specific illness, doctors may opt to put an individual on Hospice to ensure their comfort as they come to the end of their life (SeniorLiving.org, n.d.). Hospice care can be offered as an at-home solution or some senior living communities may be able to provide a hospice bed within the community they are current living in. An example of that may be Memory Care communities or Nursing Homes (Ginzler, 2009).

The largest type of senior living community is Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC), which promotes the idea of aging in place by providing a versatile living option that include Independent Living (IL), Assisted Living (AL), Memory Care (MC), and Nursing Homes in one general community. Continuing Care Communities are often separated into smaller communities according to the needs of residents but they allow for an easy transition from different sectors as the resident ages and requires higher levels of care (SeniorLiving.org, n.d.).