When you hear the phrase assisted living you probably think of a facility that offers older people with the support that they have to live securely, comfortably and for the most part independently. This sounds like a reasonable perception to the average person. You’re likely to expect it to cost somewhat more than apartment living.
A single person living in a two bedroom, one bath apartment in the Midwest can more likely than not expect to pay say a 1000 dollars per month (or less) for rent, utilities and groceries. All these are the same basic things included in most assisted living communities. The primary monthly charges for the privilege of living in an environment similar to this are at least double-for a studio unit. So far, I have not seen anything that justifies the cost. There just isn’t a 1000 dollars (or more) assistance being given! Understand that there are many services offered in those communities which are available to residents for additional fees. If you are a resident who isn’t spending for the additional companies, you are really just paying more to live in a retirement community.
There are lots of appealing aspects of living in a community of this kind. The maintenance free living and being surrounded by individuals of your own generation might seem appealing yet condominiums and apartment complexes offer very much the same. The most crucial perk of assisted living is the security and safety aspect for not only the resident yet also their family. Knowing that there are talented pros watching over our loved ones, when we simply can not, need to ease our worries too as our aged family members’. If this were only how it works at all facilities!
My family’s knowledge has had it’s ups and downs. We keep learn more about how things work. Like most things in life, you cannot take anything for granted and you can not rely upon anyone’s word. We’ve been exposed to 3 different facilities and three decidedly different expense levels. You do have to pay more for what most would consider basic care in a facility that promotes itself as an assisted living community. It’s a business and there must be profit to keep it going. It genuinely seems that a lot of such businesses are just draining their resident’s bank accounts. Individuals who worked and saved for decades have no choice but to hand over their retirement savings just to have a room and meals. It seems like that there ought to be more to look forward to in our twilight yrs!
Doing research and visiting facilities just isn’t enough to make an knowledgeable choice when the time comes to move your family member into an assisted living facility. It does not actually matter how much you think you know and how nice a facility appears when you visit, you actually have to live there to know how it’s on an every day basis. You can have to try a couple of different ones prior to you find one that you’re comfortable with. It is not fun to uproot an aged individual and plant them in an unfamiliar area but it may become required.
Beware of medications mix up! You might be able to overlook some things not being up to par but pay attention to who gives medicine and how it’s documented. We’ve had prescriptions disappear, other resident’s prescriptions being given, prescriptions being mixed with other residents’, medications of different kinds kept in the same bottle, to name a few. In fact, the last move to a completely new facility was genuinely eye opening and maddening at the same time. The brand new facility went via the medications that the old one had sent and found not only the wrong medicines mixed in bottles but also someone else’s prescription bottle! This was a support that was paid for so that our family member got the proper medications at the right time, it’s a wonder that service didn’t have terrible results. The upside of this last straw scenario that we experienced is ,that since moving, our eighty-seven yr old feels greater!
Georgette Adanas has been writing articles on geri care finder since 2003.