Things To Expect In A Senior Living Facility

Senior living facilities, also referred to as assisted living facilities, adult congregate care, and residence, are suitable for seniors who require daily care assistance. This kind of facility also creates a safe living environment for all seniors without losing their independence, privacy, and regular lifestyle.

With a senior living facility like cdslifetransitions.org, seniors also have 24-hour access to help if necessary and they will be supervised in case of emergency. The services offered in senior living facilities may vary from one to another and could take many forms, providing flexibility to seniors.

If you are looking for a senior living facility for your senior loved ones, there are various things you should expect and these include the following:

 

1. Personal Care and Assistance with Daily Activities

The majority of senior living facilities provide hours of assistance with the daily activities of their senior residents. In fact, most of these facilities have caregivers who are available throughout the day to assist the residents with any personal care activities.

Residents may also set up their own schedule for routine personal care including getting dressed every day, evening bath or eating meals. There are also caregivers who can help the senior residents with their needs, whether scheduled or not.

A good senior living facility has an on-site pharmacy, staff member to coordinate and schedule appointments, physical therapy, and other important services for residents to help improve senior wellbeing.

 

2. Security And Safety

One of the valuable things that senior living facilities can cater to senior residents is 24-hour security and safety support. This full-time system for emergencies provides residents the chance to live independently without fearing any injuries or debilitating health conditions that could be risky when living alone.

Some senior living facilities also use new monitoring and digital health technologies to track the personal care activities and habits of every resident. This monitoring not only alerts staff to some changes in the health of a resident, but also makes everything easier for the caregivers to anticipate the needs of the residents.

Depending on your senior loved one’s requirements, there are facilities that specialize with Alzheimer’s, dementia or some conditions affecting memory. They are equipped with monitoring systems all over the property to provide better services to the residents.

 

3. Daily Meals

The dining styles provided in a senior living facility can be room delivery, cafeteria style or same with a restaurant. Most facilities often customize their menu offerings to the residents based on their medical conditions, personal tastes, and dietary or nutrition restrictions. There are also selections that differ from meal to meal and day to day. All of these are made to be both satisfying and nutritionally healthy to senior residents.

 

4. Laundry and Housekeeping Services

Housekeeping staff are always available to provide cleanup services throughout the day. Other than that, residents may expect housekeeping services weekly. Such services may include folding and washing laundry, changing bed sheets, cleaning bathrooms, dusting, and vacuuming.

 

5. Wellness, Social Activities, and Entertainment Services

Some senior living facilities offer common living areas such as gaming rooms, café areas, and libraries for social activity. They also have a calendar of structured social activities including movie viewings, book discussion groups, and gardening clubs. Other residents may also engage in some off-site activities like theater outing or mall walking, wherein transportation is provided.

If your senior loved ones have an active lifestyle, there are also senior living facilities that have wellness centers or fitness rooms to let residents enjoy activities such as walking, tai chi, yoga, and aerobics.

 

6. Payment And Fees

Many senior living facilities include basic service costs, but there are others that require additional fees, depending on the type of care or services that your senior loved ones prefer. The fees charged may vary as it can be a monthly fee or the pricing of the services may be based on the particular services requested by the senior resident.

  • Upfront Fee — Many senior living facilities will charge their future residents a deposit for reservation. Also known as community fee, this deposit can be a couple of thousand dollars and reserves the accommodations of your preference for a particular period of time. Normally, this deposit won’t be applied to some charges and refundable if the would-be resident can’t move around the facility because of health reasons.
  • Base Fee — It’s the resident’s monthly rent in a senior living facility. It varies depending on the type of residential unit. Almost all base fees are inclusive of basic housekeeping, utilities, meals, and maintenance. Base fee also depends on the kind of services the resident requires.

 

7. Reliable Transportation Services

In senior living facilities, residents can also enjoy reliable transportation services, which they can take advantage of whenever they want to visit a place or go sightseeing. With this kind of facility, you can be assured that your senior loved ones will have the freedom to have a trip anytime within the local area.

 

8. Living Arrangements

Usually, residents in senior living facilities live in their private or semi private accommodations, which may include kitchen area,   furnished or unfurnished bedroom, and bathroom . Various kinds of accommodations are available such as private studio apartments, 1-bed apartments, dorm-style bedroom arrangements, and 1-bedroom shared apartments.

Most senior living services also work with a home health agency to provide hospice services and skilled nursing care. That is why before a senior living facility accepts your loved one, they make sure to do an initial evaluation to determine the resident’s unique needs. Your loved one will also be reevaluated regularly and modifications must be made to his service program to reflect the services or extra services needed. The care receiver has access to such evaluations and will be given with a copy for record purposes.

 

Bottom Line

Every senior living facility is unique and offers a variety of services to meet the changing needs of seniors. Regardless if you are looking for this kind of facility for the first time or you want a better place for your senior loved one, always consider the above mentioned things while hunting for an appropriate senior living facility. The key to find the best one is to determine the needs of your senior loved ones to ensure quality of life.

 

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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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