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June 21, 2022Growing older is a fact of life, and there may come a time when you must consider senior care options for yourself or someone you love. There are several options that you can choose from, but the two most common types of elderly care are skilled nursing and assisted living.
Researching various options and deciding which type of care best fits your situation can leave you feeling stressed and overwhelmed. As you begin the decision process, it’s important to understand the difference between the two, including the type and level of assistance and care each provides. Each type of senior care facility provides its own unique level of medical care and assistance with day to day activities.
What is Assisted Living?
You’ve probably heard the terms retirement or senior living community, which is what an assisted living facility is commonly referred to. An assisted living community is a residential type living environment for seniors who are able to live mostly independently, but for whatever reason no longer want to live at home. This type of senior care facility can offer a range of home environments from private rooms and apartments to dwellings that are shared with another person.
Seniors within these communities may need, at their discretion, light assistance with daily activities like bathing and personal hygiene, medication management, housekeeping, laundry, grocery shopping, and more. The communities themselves typically provide shared indoor and outdoor spaces for social and recreational gatherings, as well as transportation to appointments, shopping trips, group outings and more.
What is Skilled Nursing?
You may have heard a skilled nursing facility simply referred to as a nursing home. This type of senior care facility is set up to provide care for patients who can no longer safely live at home and require a higher level of assistance with daily activities and medical care.
In a skilled nursing facility, seniors are provided with around the clock inpatient medical care and assistance with day to day needs. Registered and licensed nurses, certified nursing assistants, and therapists are some of the medical professionals commonly on staff at a skilled nursing facility.
Medicare defines skilled care as “medical care that can only be safely and effectively performed by, or under the supervision of, professionals or technical personnel.” Medicare does not typically cover the cost of an assisted living facility, but it does generally cover the expense of a skilled nursing facility for skilled nursing care, rooms, meals, rooms, medical supplies and equipment, and required therapies.
How are Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing Different?
Both facilities provide assistance with daily activities and both offer medical care, but the type of care patients need varies greatly between the two. The biggest difference between the two facilities is the independence level and skill of care a patient needs while in residence.
Residents of an assisted living facility require a much lower level of assistance with basic needs than those who reside in a skilled nursing facility. These seniors may need a little extra help with housekeeping, medication management, and personal hygiene, and feel more comfortable knowing staff is on hand if a need arises. While emergency medical care is available 24/7, an assisted living community does not typically provide the same level of comprehensive medical care services as a skilled nursing facility. An assisted living facility offers a calendar of regularly scheduled recreational and social activities that these more independent seniors are able to participate in.
Residents who live in a skilled nursing facility, on the other hand, require around the clock medical care, supervision, and assistance with daily activities. These seniors are typically those who are suffering from complex or chronic illness and have extensive medical needs that they are unable to address on their own. Patients here are usually completely reliant on the medical staff for their medical and daily needs. This can include individuals who can no longer bathe or feed themselves, cannot move safely about on their own, and those with advanced stages of dementia.
Conclusion
When the time in life comes that you or your senior loved one need an extra helping hand, it is best to do your research to find the type of facility best suited to your needs. Elderberry Healthcare provides multiple levels of healthcare services: Transitional Rehabilitation, Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living Care. With 3 distinct levels of care, we help seniors who need minimal support in our Assisted Living community, around the clock nursing care in our Skilled Nursing Unit, and Transitional Rehabilitation services for post-operative patients like orthopedic knee and hip replacements. Contact us today to learn more.