Understanding the Different Elder Care Options

The time to start researching elder care facilities, experts recommend, is before you need one. There are numerous options for elder care, and you don’t want to be caught flat-footed in the event of an unexpected health crisis. Those sudden situations can force you to make a quick decision without the knowledge to make an informed choice.

Before understanding the types of senior living facilities, it’s important to establish the kinds of care that can take place in these facilities:

There are several different types of long-term care facilities, according to the National Institute on Aging, including:

Another option, of course, is to provide care for the elder in his or her home. Let’s take a look at each option.

Home-Based Care

Many elders prefer to remain at home as long as possible. In fact, “99% of the people I meet say they want to stay at home,” says Howard S. Krooks, an elder law attorney with Cozen O’Connor who practices in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. He's also past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

That’s great if the elder has enough support from adult children or other friends and relatives to help with whatever needs they have, such as shopping, cleaning, driving and other so-called activities of daily living. If not, they may need to enlist a home care agency or hire an eldercare aide. That, of course, costs money. “Some states have a waiting list, and in many cases, the number of hours approved by Medicaid are insufficient for the proper care of a loved one,” Krooks says.

Medicare typically doesn’t cover home care at all. That means paying out of pocket or with a long-term care insurance policy. “Home care is an option if you can pay yourself or with a combination of Medicaid and self-pay,” Krooks says. But to qualify for Medicaid, one’s assets must be so low that an adult child or other person has to pick up some of the costs.

Home Health

Home health is another type of home-based care that includes skilled nursing care or a type of therapy, such as physical or occupational therapy. Medicare Part A covers home health that involves skilled nursing or therapy care as part of a care plan, but it does not cover assistance with activities of daily living or homemaking services.

Assisted Living Facility

Assisted living facilities, as the name implies, offer some assistance to residents in their activities of daily living. These facilities are an option for seniors who can still take care of themselves most of the time but could use some help with things like:

A typical assisted living facility includes a few support services in its basic agreements, and the resident can then sign up for additional services a la carte at an additional cost. Many of these facilities are like high-end apartment complexes or housing developments in that they include common areas such as dining rooms, a gym and community rooms. Most offer three meals a day, 24-hour security and recreational events within the facility or to places like museums, the movies or other locations. Residents can even keep pets at some facilities.