Assisted Living
Assisted living is a residential program that provides meals, housing, and a range of hospitality and personal care services for adults of all ages in a supportive and safe home-like setting. Assisted living strives to optimize the dignity, choice, preferences, autonomy, engagement in life roles, and quality of life of the persons served. The program might provide services for specialized populations of persons served.
Assisted living offers a culture of customer service and hospitality as well as an environment of safety and security for persons served. A philosophy of independence, engagement, and wellness guides the communications between personnel and persons served in assisted living.
Assessments of the persons served and their person-centered plans drive service delivery. Coordination of care and care delivery are conducted in accordance with applicable regulations for the assisted living program. Staffing is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A variety of services ranging from minimal to intensive assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, eating, grooming, mobility, toileting, and assistance with medications may be available, as well as referrals to external services. Assisted living programs may provide some health services and intermittent nursing care. Additionally, these programs may offer housekeeping, laundry services, medication management, recreation programs, and transportation.
Assisted living programs are provided in a variety of settings from a small home with just a few individuals to a high-rise building housing many individuals. Individual living accommodations can be private or shared and include a single room or a full size apartment.
Assisted living may have different names in different jurisdictions.