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Sometimes, if community services allow a person to stay in his or her own
independent environment, several of these options will be "packaged
together" to allow that independence to continue until it is no longer
appropriate.
Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) are a new but
important component in providing long term care services. CCRCs enable a
person to enter at a low level of care, such as housing, and, as his or her
needs progress, so too will the community's ability to take care of him or
her on the same campus. CCRCs consist of many different levels, beginning
with senior apartments and advancing to adult care facilities and nursing
homes. This same-site approach means that the client will receive the kinds
of service he or she needs without having to leave the same general
environment.
CCRCs frequently require a large, one-time payment from applicants to
cover the costs associated with the convenience of having all the tools of
the long term care continuum based on one campus. This, essentially, helps
to pre-pay for the resident's anticipated health care needs. Additionally,
CCRC residents usually pay a monthly maintenance fee to cover utilities and
amenities. (A portion of the monthly fee also helps to prepay healthcare
services.) However, that monthly fee does not rise significantly when a
resident needs more complex care, so residents are able to budget for what
the costs will be over their lifetime.
CCRCs and life care in particular (see definition below) are relatively
new in this state, although they have been very successful in other states
and have been attractive for those who have chosen to move to bordering
states over the past few years in order to take advantage of this option.
Oversight agency: State Department of Health
Enriched housing is a program typically located in an adult care
facility or senior housing facility, providing housekeeping, shopping and
personal care services for those in need. Enriched housing allows a senior
citizen to remain in his or her own apartment, even after he or she may have
become more frail and can no longer perform what health care professionals
call the "activities of daily living" (such as walking, cooking, dressing,
etc.).
Oversight agency: Department of Social Services
Home care consists of medical or personal care services provided
in the individual's home. Home care agencies are certified by the state as
either part of the long term home health care program (LTHHCP) (also called
"nursing home without walls") or as a certified home health agency (CHHA).
The services these agencies provide may be fairly simple, ranging from
monitoring blood pressure to coordinating medication, to the highly complex,
such as intravenous infusion therapy or care for AIDS patients. Home health
agencies also can provide personal care, which includes such functions as
bathing or housekeeping, to maintain a person in his or her own home.
Oversight agency: Department of Health
Life care is a type of continuing care retirement community (CCRC--see
definition, above) where the resident is guaranteed skilled care for as long
as they reside at the CCRC.
Continue on to
"Nursing homes / Respite / Senior housing" >
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Term Care Issues with Jodee Meddy
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Jodee
Meddy, RN, MS, LNHA, Co-founder of SeniorSite.com is a nationally
acclaimed Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, a Registered Nurse and an
expert on Long Term/ Extended Care issues and Nursing Homes. If you have any Long Term Care questions or concerns,
