Assisted Living

Assisted Living Facilities began as an alternative to retirement homes and came about in the 90's. Assisted Livings were the first to use the "Aging-In_Place model. This model is meant to keep the resident in the Assisted Living for the rest of their life. Aging in place is a model that meets the needs of the resident as more and more assistance is needed.

Though it is honorable to want to keep a resident in an assisted living, very often, after a fall, heart attack, stroke and so forth, you will find that a resident is still placed in a nursing home until that resident is deemed able to fulfill their activities of daily living with little or no assistance.

If more care is needed for a resident in an assisted living, a re-assessment is usually done every 6 months or after a life changing incident such as a fall, memory impairmenent worsens, a stroke, heart attack. At this assessment, the nurse, the assisted living director and a staff member may gather all the notes, charts and doctor's orders together and decide if a resident is in need for more care.

If more care is needed in an assisted living after a major incident occurs, the level of care may be bumped up to a level two, or ++ which are ways of determining a resident is in need of more assistance then before therefore causing a rise in care and a rise in cost.

Tomorrow, Nursing Homes.