Assisted Living

Assisted Living is the step between in-home care and the nursing home. It generally means living in apartments in a home-like setting but with meals, housekeeping, transportation and social activities provided on a schedule. The downside is this means less freedom. The upside is that other assistance is provided as needed, such as help with the toilet, bathing and dressing, medications and even basic medical care.

However, Assisted Living is not licensed by Medicare or Medicaid to give skilled nursing care, so if your parents need this, you should be looking instead at nursing homes which provide round-the-clock medical care. Indeed, your parent may be required to move out of Assisted Living if their health and mobility deteriorate.

Because assisted living varies so much from facility to facility and state to state, it is important to understand how expensive it is and you need to read the contract thoroughly. It will largely determine the quantity and quality of care the resident can expect. For example, in addition to the regular monthly bill, in the $1500 to $6000 range, supplemental services also may be charged, so families need to be clear about what they expect (so ask whether bathing, dressing, etc. are covered or are “a la carte”). Those costs can mount up. Roughly half the assisted living facilities specialize in Alzheimers and dementia care and that can push the bill up too, although they do not have the power to restrain residents that nursing homes do.

At the high end are facilities like Monarch Village in Tarzana which don't consider themselves Assisted Living.  They are more accurately described as independent retirement communities but, because they offer some amenities like hotels, there is a fine dividing line.

At the lower end are private board and care residences where the caregiver usually has converted a family home into a small facility with 3-10 beds and there are fewer staff.

Check the Directory for some of the options within Encino. Further resources:

A useful website is maintained by the National Senior Citizens Law Center which points out that you and your parents should never sign waivers of liability or risk agreements, which are illegal but which pop up from time to time. Click on http://www.nsclc.org/consumer then go to the section titled: “Consumer Information from NSCLC” for more information.