What Are Key Differences Between An Assisted Living Facility and an Assisted Living Home?

While searching for options for elderly loved ones, it can be confusing to see different options out there. From home health care to full-on assisted living facilities, there are two main types of places to live: assisted living centers and assisted living homes. The main difference lies between the type of care needed; Supervisory, Personal, and Directed. Assisted living centers handle Supervisory and Personal care, whereas assisted living homes can handle all 3 types of care, Supervisory, Personal, and Directed Care.

Assisted Living Facilities / Assisted Living Centers

These facilities are much larger than an assisted living home, often with multi-unit buildings. For those GenX and older, we used to call these “nursing homes.” Assisted living facilities, also called assisted living centers, often have a bigger offering of amenities, such as gyms, movie theaters, library, outdoor grill and putting green, much like large apartment complexes due to the more active client. They could have individual apartments for their residents, and many services like laundry, meals, and housekeeping all at a la carte pricing. 

Assisted living facilities can sometimes offer more care 24/7, like nursing staff, medication management, and assistance with everyday health and personal care services. They are also much more expensive than an assisted living home, which can be covered by insurance, but that often runs out on the patient who needs this type of care. 

Assisted living centers are where hospitals and case managers often refer discharged patients to live after their care needs have increased. Centers can charge about 50% more than an assisted living home, and can vary depending on where they’re located in Arizona. These can start at $5000 per month but can easily increase to $8,000 or more per month based on a tiered/point system when it comes to other costs. As you need more and more care the cost will incrementally climb. At the end of the month, these points are added up and added to the monthly cost of living. 

What costs points?  If you need someone to check on your mom to make sure she took her medication, that’s a point added. If you need that done each meal, that’s 3 points per day. Having someone there to be sure there aren’t falls in the shower or elsewhere is also charged as points. If you need a glass of milk in the middle of the night, that could be charged as a point, to be paid on the next invoice. 

Centers can be good for elderly couples, if, for example, the husband has dementia, but the spouse is younger and not in need of care. That person may not want to be in a center, but the extra help from the larger centers can be a big help, so they can both live there. 

Centers only handle supervisory needs, such as having someone to check on others who may be more mobile, but have no family, and personal care, which means they may need one person for assistance, such as helping with walking, have mental acuity can eat and bathe self, but just not as physical as when younger, and may need a motorized wheelchair or walker. 

Then, there’s directed care, which typically involves 2-person assistance, such as with dementia or stroke patients with limited mobility. This also applies to changing someone bedbound, which needs 2 people, or if someone needs help bathing due to stroke or lack of mobility/bedbound, or cancer patients going through treatment. These are not typically available at an assisted living center, but will be at an assisted living home, which handles all three types of care. 

Assisted Living Homes / Carehomes / Group homes

Assisted living homes aren’t often on the radar because they don’t work with hospitals, who refers many patients to much larger assisted living centers. These homes are small independently owned and are more affordable.  The main difference is that you can save more money and get more personalized care than in a center. 

Assisted living homes in Arizona offer more personal care than at the larger centers, because they’re much smaller than centers, which could have upwards of 200 units to take care of.  Typically a home is located in a neighborhood with up to 10 residents, and it also feels more like being at home since it’s usually located within a suburb.  Also the ratio of staff to residents is better.  Instead of a center which usually is 1 staff to 15-20 people a home holds a better ratio of at least 1 caregiver to 3-5 residents, which is noticeably better quality care.  Rounds are done more periodically to see if someone needs help and can give the resident a better experience in the home.

Homes are a better choice to help stretch your budget. They often have set prices or all inclusive pricing, which can be negotiable at times, and some insurers cover it. Check with the home to see if their insurance covers their room and supplies. Most likely they don’t have additional charges, or points like in centers, so residents know what to expect for fees each month and it remains consistent throughout their stay. 

In centers, people average about 10 years younger and are more active than those who live in assisted living homes.  Activities in assisted care homes happen on a daily basis to keep their residents active socially and physically. This keeps people healthier and as studies have shown being active helps people to live longer.

The main 2 questions are what type of care does the resident need and what is the resident’s budget?  This will help point you in the right direction. Whether you or your loved one needs care and can no longer live at home independently, in Arizona, there are many options to choose from. At Modern Care Homes, our list of carehomes can handle all three types of care to give you peace of mind for patients, residents, friends and family of their loved one.