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Publication #FAR6016

 

Long-Term Care Choices1

Suzanna Smith2

My neighbor Betty is 86 and has lived at home alone since her husband died ten years ago. Betty has been able to take care of herself with some help from her family until the last year or so. She's become more and more frail and has trouble remembering things. Her family is afraid she will fall on the steps or forget to turn off the stove. Since Betty now needs more help than her children can manage, they are looking into long-term care options.

According to the National Institute on Aging, there are two types of long-term care for older adults. First, assisted living facilities are for someone who doesn't need regular skilled medical care but can't function independently. The assisted living facility provides the senior with meals, housekeeping, and transportation, and personal care, such as bathing, dressing, and medications as needed. Some have a variety of recreational and social activities. Supervision is provided 24 hours a day in a home-like environment (National Institute on Aging, 2003).

The second option is skilled nursing care or nursing homes. This care may be needed if someone is very frail and needs around-the-clock nursing care; suffers from dementia and might wander away without supervision; cannot live alone; or needs more help with meals, bathing, medications, and moving around than a family caregiver can provide (National Institute on Aging, 2003).

The services and quality of these facilities vary, so experts advise family members to look closely at each residence. It's important to ask questions and visit several times to make sure the facility is right for the senior.

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Resources

To find help in your community, visit the Eldercare Locator at http://www.eldercare.gov/Eldercare.NET/Public/Index.aspx.

The U.S. Agency on Aging also recommends contacting the Assisted Living Facilities Association of America, 9401 Lee Highway, Suite 402, Fairfax, Virginia 22031, (703) 691-8100.

For a list of important questions to help guide decisions about ALFs, see Florida Affordable Assisted Living, Selecting a Facility: http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/faal/ [21 September 2012].

For a nursing home checklist, see the U.S. government's Medicare website: http://www.medicare.gov/Nursing/Checklist.pdf

References

Administration on Aging. (2005). Housing. Retrieved June 27, 2006, from http://www.aoa.gov/aoaroot/Press_Room/Products_Materials/fact/pdf/Government_Housing_Assistance.pdf

American Geriatric Society. (2005). Community based care. In Aging in the know. Retrieved June 27, 2006, from http://www.healthinaging.org/agingintheknow/chapters_ch_trial.asp?ch=14

American Geriatric Society. (2005).Nursing home care. In Aging in the know. Retrieved June 27, 2006, from http://www.healthinaging.org/agingintheknow/chapters_ch_trial.asp?ch=15

Ball, M. B., Whittington, F. J., Perkins, M. M., Patterson, V. L., Hollingsworth, C., King, S.V., & Combs, B. L. (2000). Quality of life in assisted living facilities: viewpoints of residents. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 19, No. 3, 304-325

Florida Department of Elder Affairs. (2003). Florida affordable assisted living: selecting a facility. http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/faal/ [21 September 2012].

National Institute on Aging. (2003). AgePage: Long-term care: Choosing the right place. Retrieved June 23, 2006, from http://www.nia.nih.gov/healthinformation/publications/nursinghomes.htm

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR6016, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 486. Published February 2009. Revised April 2009. Reviewed March 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Suzanna Smith, associate professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.