What Do Most Assisted Living Facilities Provide?
If you are the adult child of an aging parent, or if you are a person in the midst of the Golden Years yourself, you may be thinking about what other living options might be available to you beyond residing in your current home. Depending on your circumstances, one possibility you may have in mind is assisted living. With that said, you may wonder what services and amenities are provided by most assisted living facilities?
What is offered by an assisted living facility varies from one location to another. With that understood, some of the more commonplace services offered by an assisted living community in California and across the United States are:
- Meal preparation
- Housekeeping
- Safe living environment
- Assistance with grooming, bathing, dressing
- Transportation
- Informational and enrichment programming
- Entertainment
- Field trips
- Fitness programs
- Community interaction
- Private living quarters
Meal Preparation
Older people have a strong need to have consistently nutritious meals. One of the most important things that assisted living facilities provide is healthy, nutritious meals. They can also assist with specialized meal planning in some instances as well. As a general practice, this means three well balanced meals a day as well as snacks.
Housekeeping
One area in which older people need assistance with is housekeeping. Assisted living facilities obviously take care of common spaces. However, they also provide housekeeping services for a resident’s living quarters. An assisted living facility also provides its residents with laundry services as well.
Safe Living Environment
Another highly important thing provided by an assisted living facility is the creation and maintenance of a safe living environment. This includes safety from potential harm within the community itself. It also means that the assisted living facility utilizes appropriate security measure at the premises as well.
Assistance With Grooming, Bathing, Dressing
A major thing provided at an assisted living facility is assisting a residence with grooming, bathing, and dressing. The fact is that these essential tasks of daily living can become rather challenging for certain individual as they grow older. An assisted living facility provides these services in a manner that respects the dignity of a resident.
Transportation
Assisted living facilities typically provide their residents with transportation. This includes transportation to such things as:
- Medical appointments
- Dental appointments
- Religious services
- Shopping
- Other activities away from the facility
Informational and Enrichment Programming
Assisted living facilities typically also have informational and enrichment programs for their residents. These come in a wide range of different forms. They can include lectures, classes, and so forth.
Entertainment
A typical assisted living facility usually has different types of entertainment offerings for their residents. This can include outside programs and performances of different types that are brought into a facility. It can also include trip into the community for entertainment events and programming as well.
Field Trips
As noted a moment ago, a typical assisted living community may arrange trips into the community for entertainment programming. In fact, trips are arranged into the community for other things as well that include those activities we discussed earlier in this article.
Fitness Programs
Older people are healthier overall when they undertake regular exercise. As a consequence, typical assisted living communities have fitness or exercise programs for their residents. These can come in a number of different forms. They might also include a structured exercise program designed specifically for older people.
Community Interaction
An assisted living facility also provides residents with community interaction. In fact, the socialization between residents tends to be a major aspect of life in an assisted living facility. A typical assisted living facility include common areas in which residents can spend time with one another, including participating in different types of activities.
Living Quarters
An assisted living facility provides its residents with appropriate living quarters. The types of living quarters available depends on the specific structure of a particular assisted living facility. Examples of the different types of living options that can be found at assisted living facilities in the United States include:
- Private rooms
- Private suites
- Semi-private rooms
The only sure way in which you can determine what is available at an assisted living facility is to visit it. Indeed, you really are well advised to visit a particular assisted living facility to be certain that it meets your immediate and anticipated needs, goals, and objectives.
In fact, when it comes to comprehensive due diligence when considering a move to an assisted living facility for yourself or for an aging parent, you should consider making more than one visit to an assisted living facility. By making multiple visits you will get a better idea of what goes on at a facility. Different things are going on at different times during the day. The same holds true for different times during the week.