Definition:
Assisted Living Facility
A type of Long-Term care facility for individuals who need primarily non-skilled or semi-skilled custodial care services. It provides a trained staff on a 24 hour a day basis to provide services with an on-call physician available. Often, individuals who live in an assisted living facility have a higher level of independence than a person cared for in a nursing home. Generally, a resident will need help and assistance with some activities of daily living. A plan-of-care may include hands-on or standby assistance with bathing and dressing, for example. Some assisted living facilities can provide some supervision for those with cognitive decline including medication management. Some facilities have a wing for those suffering from more serious dementia or Alzheimer’s and require substantial supervision. Some residents, because of advanced age, simply prefer the convenience of having their meals in a central cafeteria and having nursing staff on call although they do not need any help with daily activities.