Assisted v independent living

[Anonymous]

Assisted Living if she needs help with medication management and a walker, etc.

[Anonymous]

If she needs any medication management, physical assistance, or is heading that way, AL.

Many, many places have Independent and Assisted in the same building, so its not necessarily even noticeable. My mom began in independent, we moved to AL when she needed medication help (she was forgetting and confusing them). There was no change of apartments, activities, meals, friends, etc. There were folks in assisted living who simply needed help with showers and medications.

Memory care (where she is now) is very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she needs any medication management, physical assistance, or is heading that way, AL.

Many, many places have Independent and Assisted in the same building, so its not necessarily even noticeable. My mom began in independent, we moved to AL when she needed medication help (she was forgetting and confusing them). There was no change of apartments, activities, meals, friends, etc. There were folks in assisted living who simply needed help with showers and medications.

Memory care (where she is now) is very different.

The continuing care place my mother is at allows resodents to do IL with medication management (I believe they charge $400/month but they fill all of her prescriptions as well).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AL. The elders I know did not do anywhere near a full recovery from stroke even with rehabilitation. Sadly everyone wants to be in the club where they don't belong. I would make sure you only convey positivity about AL and not feed into her being too advanced for it. Those in independent living want to enjoy that stage and can sometimes be rejecting of their peers who insist on being there perhaps with personal aides. Help her appreciate she stage where she is.

Just posted, but wanted to add I agree with the great advice on here-make sure it's continued care, even if she goes to AL. It's so much easier for them to adjust when a move is within the same facility.

Absolutely.

My mom moved into AL from IL and while she knows it's the right place for her, she's not happy about it. But what she misses is her IL unit, not the house she lived in for 50+ years. The IL unit felt like home once she settled in. She has lots of friends from her time there.

I can't imagine how she'd be doing if she had to move to a whole new place where she didn't know anyone.

+1

My parents are still both in IL, in a CCRC. But they are happy knowing if/when one of them needs more care, they are at the same facility and the other can walk to them daily and never go outside (if weather is bad). They also know that as long as the "higher level of care" person is capable of leaving and being "cared for by the other spouse" that spouse can get them and bring them to the IL apartment for part of the day and meals in the restaurants. And their friends from IL can visit them as well, be it AL, nursing care or Memory care. At my parents place, the residents in AL/Nursing care/Memory care have tons of activities and they get them outside daily as allowed.
But a huge part of people living longer has to do with the spouse can see them daily...you as a kid don't have to worry about transporting one parent 10 miles so they can see the other. When they are together more, they live longer and are happier