Independent Living Or Assisted Living: Knowing Which One Is Right For Your Loved One

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When you have a loved one who is a senior living alone, you begin to find yourself quite preoccupied with their safety and health. As such, you may be looking into options to help them transition into a different living arrangement that is safer, more of a community, and better monitored. Because this is your first experience in dealing with such transitions, you may be wondering whether independent living or assisted living is best for your loved one. Get to know some of the key differences between independent living and assisted living for seniors so that you can make the right choice for your loved one.

Assisted Living For Daily Living Task Assistance

One of the primary differences between assisted living or independent living is whether or not your loved one will require assistance with their daily living tasks. Daily living tasks include things such as getting dressed and undressed, personal hygiene and grooming, bathing, toileting, and continence care.

If your loved one can perform these tasks on their own, they likely will not need to be in an assisted living community at this point in time. However, if you are worried that they soon will need this type of assistance, you can look for a retirement community that has both independent and assisted living options within the same community. This will make the transition from one to the other easier. Another option would be to choose independent living and have a home health care service come into their new home and help them as needed.

Independent Living Has Optional Amenities and Activities

Oftentimes, in an assisted living environment, residents do not cook their own meals in their own apartment kitchens or anything along those lines. However, in independent living, residents have fully functional kitchens that afford them the option to do so if they would like.

As such, independent living affords residents with more options. They can cook food, or get takeout or delivery of food that they would like in their own apartment. On the other hand, they can also eat their meals in a community dining room or grab food from the common dining areas to bring home with them. This gives your loved one flexibility if they do not want to or feel up to cooking at some point.

Both independent living and assisted living communities offer activities and outings that your loved one can choose to participate in if they would like. These will allow your loved one to engage socially with other residents. However, independent living also allows residents to keep their own vehicles on-site so that they can come and go as they please on their own (as long as they are able).

Now that you know a few of the differences and key points about independent living and assisted living, you can better make the right decision for you and your loved one. for more information, contact companies like Kendal At Lexington.

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10 November 2015

the positive impact of nursing homes

My mother had been living with my family for about four years before her health got so bad that I couldn't keep her in my home any longer. At that point, I really had no choice but to find a comfortable nursing home for her to move into. This wasn't an easy decision for me to make, but it was the only thing I could do to ensure she was getting the best care possible during her final days. I was pleased to find a wonderful nursing home that provided her with amenities that she could enjoy and a caring staff that would care for her. If you are second-thinking taking your loved one to a nursing home, stop and read my blog where you will find out how much good it can do for your loved one and yourself.