# What Are the Requirements to Live in Assisted Living?



## Lethe200 (Jul 20, 2021)

We're subscribers to the Eldercare Alliance.org newsletter. They had some useful general info links to their blog, so I thought some of them might be helpful to others here. Please remember that as the U.S. has no national/federal eldercare residential program, there are a wide variety of private and public facilities with varying levels of care. 

Small facilities may be regulated only by workplace OSHA or state laws. Larger, full-service facilities are regulated by individual states, so residents may have more legal/consumer protections.

Always do your research into the financial stability, worker (staff) safety and turnover, and your legal rights of any facility, regardless of size. Many larger facilities require agreement to arbitration (giving up the right to sue) as a condition of residency. In certain cases you may not even have a right to arbitration; it's "accept this or move out".

*What Are the Requirements to Live in Assisted Living?*
Eldercare Alliance.org, 15June2021
https://eldercarealliance.org/blog/...il&utm_term=0_77fd3a845b-b6abffaa94-572768641

(excerpt)
Assisted living facilities provide long-term care and housing for older adults. The goal of an assisted living community is to help older adults continue to live as independently as possible, with supportive services around activities of daily living (ADLs).

This can include bathing, dressing, meal preparation, personal care, hygiene, medication administration, and mobility support. Most assisted living facilities also provide a wide range of social activities, a caring community, and a safe environment, so make sure to ask all of the right questions when researching a care facility for your loved one.

When starting to look into the transition of an older adult into a new community, the process can seem confusing. No matter where the older adult is moving to, it can feel overwhelming. Most families have many questions about what to expect and the requirements for living in an assisted living facility.


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## jerry old (Jul 20, 2021)

Dallas area the fee is close to  4k A MONTH.


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## Manatee (Jul 20, 2021)

It is important to bear in mind that no two facilities are exactly alike, nor do they charge the same.  Geogographical location is an important factor also.   One must be prepared to do dilligent research.  Quite a lot of information can be found online.


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## GAlady (Jul 20, 2021)

I live in an Assisted Living in a small town of 20,000 people in Georgia.  I pay around $3,000./month.  I have a very nice studio apartment and the facility is very good too.  Been here 7 months, adjusting well and happy.  If you have any questions about my situation, feel free to ask.


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## HarryHawk (Jul 20, 2021)

My mother lives in an assisted living facility in Michigan.  It has 20 residents and has a very personalize and homey atmosphere.  There are activities daily which keep my mother occupied and involved. She has a suite with a living room, kitchenette, bath and bedroom.  My mother is fairly self sufficient, other residents require fairly intensive care.  Monthly rates are based upon the level of care required.  It has worked out very well for my mother.


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## Butterfly (Jul 20, 2021)

jerry old said:


> Dallas area the fee is close to  4k A MONTH.



Here it starts about there and goes up, up, up.  My old boss' mother was paying about $8,000/month for a 1 BR at a pretty nice place.  It wasn't the most expensive one in town, though.


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## GAlady (Jul 21, 2021)

Butterfly said:


> Here it starts about there and goes up, up, up.  My old boss' mother was paying about $8,000/month for a 1 BR at a pretty nice place.  It wasn't the most expensive one in town, though.


That is expensive.  But I am sure it is the location that inflates the prices.  I could afford a more expensive, but want to leave my family as much as possible when I die.


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## Aunt Bea (Jul 21, 2021)

We have a new facility here where you can take a small studio apartment with meals and other amenities for approximately $3,000/mo.  When you need the services of assisted living you can purchase them for an additional fee of $1,000/mo.  I like the idea of not having to move, leave friends and adjust to a new routine.

One thing that I’m curious about is what to take with you and what to leave behind.  My thought is that it would be similar to a young person going off to live in a college dorm.

Many of these apartments have a small kitchen area but I wonder how much cooking is done with the dining room available.  What is really needed/used in those little apartment kitchens?


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## GAlady (Jul 21, 2021)

Aunt Bea said:


> We have a new facility here where you can take a small studio apartment with meals and other amenities for approximately $3,000/mo.  When you need the services of assisted living you can purchase them for an additional fee of $1,000/mo.  I like the idea of not having to move, leave friends and adjust to a new routine.
> 
> One thing that I’m curious about is what to take with you and what to leave behind.  My thought is that it would be similar to a young person going off to live in a college dorm.
> 
> Many of these apartments have a small kitchen area but I wonder how much cooking is done when the dining room available.  What is really needed/used in those little apartment kitchens?


When I moved into assisted living I bought new furniture.  My kitchen has a refrigerator and microwave.  Only cooking is in microwave.


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## Liberty (Jul 21, 2021)

Aunt Bea said:


> We have a new facility here where you can take a small studio apartment with meals and other amenities for approximately $3,000/mo.  When you need the services of assisted living you can purchase them for an additional fee of $1,000/mo.  I like the idea of not having to move, leave friends and adjust to a new routine.
> 
> One thing that I’m curious about is what to take with you and what to leave behind.  My thought is that it would be similar to a young person going off to live in a college dorm.
> 
> Many of these apartments have a small kitchen area but I wonder how much cooking is done with the dining room available.  What is really needed/used in those little apartment kitchens?


MIL lived in one for almost 10 years...nice place, she had a 1 bedroom apt. with a small kitchen.
She didn't cook much...as she would eat in the dining room (think most places may encourage the tenants to come to the dining room for meals( and come to our house or we'd take her out to eat once or twice a week. Think you adjust your lifestyle accordingly. She mainly had snacks in the kitchen...foods she missed from having when she lived with us.  Also, we bought all new furniture when moving her in.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jul 26, 2021)

N.J. has one of the highest nursing home and assisted living costs in the country. This is an excerpt from what I pulled up when entering the requested information on the site linked below. Enter your state and see how it compares.
_"According to Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey 2020, New Jersey ranks as one of the more expensive states in the nation as far as the cost of assisted living. As of 2021, the national average is $4,300 / month, but in NJ, residents pay approximately $2,350 / month more, with the average cost being $6,650 / month. However, state residents should take some comfort in the fact that the cost is not consistently high everywhere in the state. The least expensive areas include Ocean City and in and around Atlantic City. In these areas, the average cost is between $4,945 and $5,790 / month. Residents in the most expensive areas should be aware that they live in these areas, so that they might consider neighboring counties as a cost-saving measure. The Trenton area and the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton area have monthly costs averaging between $6,523 and $7,478. Caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s can further increase the monthly cost of assisted living by 20% to 30% on average. This equates to an additional cost of approximately $1,662 / month."_

I'd be okay with being in Atlantic City if I could get to the ocean on a semi regular basis. Plus our timeshare is there so my family could book inexpensive stays if they wanted to visit a couple of days in a row. I couldn't get back to the original Cost of Care screen so even though this is showing for N.J. just choose what type of care options you're interested in and your state from the drop down menus shown in the green Cost of Care Calculator box: https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/new-jersey


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## Butterfly (Jul 28, 2021)

GAlady said:


> When I moved into assisted living I bought new furniture.  My kitchen has a refrigerator and microwave.  Only cooking is in microwave.



Boss' mom was in true assisted living, where they did a lot of things for her --- housekeeping, etc.  Then she moved to the nursing  home  side and that went up even more.


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## StarSong (Aug 13, 2021)

I've read a number of accounts where _healthy _people retire at sea on cruise ships for a year or two. They stay on the same ship for long periods - then shift to another when both are docked at the same time. All the comforts of an assisted living (no personal care options, obviously), meals, daily housekeeping, familiar staff, activities, pool, gym, music, shows, etc. When docked in a place they feel comfortable, they hit a laundromat.

With an inside cabin, prices can be lower than assisted living. 

Of course, with Covid those people wound up in a pickle.


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## Sunny (Sep 6, 2021)

Before Covid, this sounded like a fun way to retire, at least for a while. It would be especially nice if a whole group of friends decided to do it together; they'd have their own little "community" within the larger one of the ship.

But due to the prevalence of illness on these ships, and not only Covid, plenty of other epidemics, I wouldn't set foot on a cruise ship if my life depended on it. Which it could.


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