What Is Independent Assisted Living?

Independent assisted living is a community housing arrangement that typically serves the elderly or people with disabilities. In this kind of community, residents live in their own homes but receive ongoing assistance in meeting their daily living needs. For example, they may have their meals prepared for them and receive assistance with bathing or dressing. Unlike in a nursing home, residents do not require skilled nursing care, as they are typically mobile, and they are free to come and go from the community as they please. Housing in an independent assisted living community may be in apartments, town homes, or even detached houses, usually designed for accessibility and equipped with panic-alert systems.

Many older adults as well as those with special medical needs are perfectly capable of living independently if they can receive some basic services and minimal help with self-care. Unlike an institutional setting, where residents have little privacy and are often restricted to the schedule imposed on them by nursing home administrators, those who live in independent assisted living typically have their own quarters, including bathrooms and kitchens, so they are able to make decisions about how they wish to spend their days. As a general rule, residents will work with the administrators of the community to determine what level of services they need in order to continue living independently. For example, some people may simply need somebody to come in and clean a couple days a week, while others may require both maid service and assistance in getting dressed and showered in the morning and undressed at night.

Residents may also have the opportunity to participate in group activities sponsored by the center and may be able to take advantage of exercise facilities and group transportation services. The center may also have health care professionals on staff who can monitor residents' health conditions and coordinate with their doctors to ensure that they are getting the health care services that they need. Some independent assisted living communities may also be attached to a full-service nursing home to which residents who become unable to care for themselves or who are recovering from surgery may be able to move, enabling them to remain in the community they are used to, but also providing them with the care they need.