As older adults advance in age, they need more help to complete daily tasks. It’s now left for you to decide as the caregiver whether you can continue to care for them or seek professional help. After deciding to seek professional help, the next thing is knowing the most suitable help for your loved ones.
There are different communities to move your loved ones to, however, knowing the difference can be confusing. The closest types of care that can seem confusing are assisted living respite care and assisted living itself. Here are the differences between the two levels of care:
Assisted Living
Benefits
Assisted living centers are created for residents who are healthy, but need assistance with daily activities. The center offers necessary assistance to your loved ones while ensuring they live independently.
Your loved ones will undergo assessment while moving into the community to help the team members know the level of care they will need.
The assistance will include laundry, housekeeping, bathing, dressing, and eating. Aside from the level of care, the housing style also ensures maximum privacy and comfort. Your loved ones will have access to private or semi-private suites
Cost
The cost of assisted living depends on location, community, level of services, and the type of suites. According to the Cost of Care Survey conducted by Genworth in 2021. The national average cost of assisted living in a month is $4,500, which is around $148 in a day. The whole cost for a year will total up to $54,000.
When compared to the average cost of living in a nursing home which is around $9,034 per month and $108,405 a year. Assisted living includes a lesser cost than a nursing home especially when the suite is private.
Respite Care
Benefits
This is short-term care and resident opt-in for this care based on different reasons. Probably, your loved ones need assistance after an injury or accident and it’s beyond what you can offer.
As a caregiver, you might need a break or currently have little engagement and might not have enough time for your loved ones. Or you will like to move your loved ones into an assisted living and would like to test the community first.
Irrespective of the reason you are choosing respite care. Your loved ones can have access to amenities and activities that are available for residents in assisted living however for a short term.
Cost
Similar to the cost of assisted living, the exact cost will depend on the type of care, location, community, and duration of stay. However, on average your loved ones can expect between $150 to $300 per day for short-term respite care in an assisted living center.
The cost is different if the respite care involves home services. Your older loved ones can expect to spend an annual median cost of $19,000.
Conclusion
Both assisted living and respite care have a lot of similarities. The main difference between them is the duration of stay. In respite care, your loved ones can stay for days or weeks depending on how long you need the service.
While your loved ones can stay in assisted living for more than a year. If you are still confused about the difference you can reach out to communities like Morada Quintessence for clarification.
