A lot of seniors think that separating from their family during old age means they need to be taken to a “home” to have their needs met and taken care of once they’re no longer capable of taking proper care of themselves. However, the state-of-the-art assisted living Denver facilities available today are very different from the traditional nursing homes that used to be around 30-40 years ago, although a more advanced version of those has also survived into the 21st century.
What You Can Expect from a Typical Nursing Home
The idea behind an old-school nursing home was that you’d take your aging mother, father or grandparent there once they’ve reached a certain age when they can no longer cope with day-to-day activities, or when their fading mental or physical care required 24-hour supervision. The latter has not changed, as that is basically the definition of a modern nursing home as well. The difference is that most people who are taken to a nursing home actually need that 24-hour per day supervision and medical care, and those who don’t need it can usually benefit from other options as well – such as in-home care or assisted living.
Nursing homes are fitted with similar equipment and living quarters that you would find in a modern day hospital ward, and they are run by medically-savvy staff members who know what to do in an emergency. Depending on the seriousness of their mental or physical impairments, seniors may be required to adhere to a strict schedule and abide by various treatments, while also being deprived of certain activities such as sitting in front of a computer screen for too long or performing anything more than mild physical activity. At the same time, visiting hours at a nursing home are also limited, and some of the patients are confined to their beds or wheelchairs, making it difficult to get around and take part in community-based activities.
Assisted Living – A Whole Other World
Aside from the fact that assisted living is quite a lot more affordable than a nursing home, it also provides better living conditions. For elders who don’t have to rely on 24/7 supervision and intense medical treatments for their physical or mental illnesses, but who also suffer from certain disabilities that make them unable to take care of all their daily duties, assisted living offers a solution that’s somewhere between living independently at home and staying in a nursing home.
While visiting hours are still a tad limited, those in assisted living Denver communities are able to interact more with the outside world and even given transportation to local stores and theaters. Many suites are even fitted with mini-kitchens which allow seniors to prepare their own meals, so they don’t have to rely on the facility for food.
Amenities and services are provided to help keep seniors healthy and help them avoid difficult home maintenance tasks such as lawn care, snow shoveling, cleaning and appliance maintenance. At the same time, the amenities involved can include gyms, swimming pools and even spas, so that aging seniors can be provided with virtually anything they want. It’s no wonder that the general satisfaction rate for senior assisted living centers is currently over 90%!