Elder Care & Senior Living

As senior citizens age, there comes a time when they are not as capable of taking care of themselves, their homes and their personal lives as they used to be. Perhaps, the house that they have lived in and taken care of for so long is becoming too much of a burden for them. However, they are no where near ready to live in a nursing home.

At this time in one’s life, assisted living is quite often the perfect solution for the senior as well as their families. There are basically two types of senior assisted living arrangements. One is an apartment in a senior assisted living facility. The other is in a senior assisted living “campus”. These are set up like efficiencies and basically include a very small kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. They are available for both singles and couples. You can view the licensed assisted living facilities in your city and state.

Many times with these types of living arrangements, the seniors are given their privacy, but there is someone to check in on them. Quite often a nurse’s station or infirmary is located right on the premises. Many of these facilities require the senior to check in with a particular number by a specified time of day. They are given numbers or buzzers to push. This is just to assure that the person is alright. If they are not heard from, someone is dispatched to their apartment to make sure they are okay.

These facilities include a small kitchen so that one can prepare their own meal if desired. However, there is usually a cafeteria which provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. The benefit of eating in the cafeteria is to meet new people. Many times these facilities run daily trips with a shuttle to the grocery stores, malls, movies and many other places. Also there is usually a club house or meeting room which hosts an abundance of activities. These range from bingo to crafts and the like.

There are some restrictions in many senior assisted living centers. The main one is having guests spend the night. Some facilities do not allow this at all and some will allow family, usually only one at a time to spend the night. They usually require approval from the management. There are certain rules on visits by children, but these differ by facility.