When selecting what type of care you or one of your loved ones may need as he or she gets older, you will probably hear a lot about both assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

Knowing the differences between these types of facilities and what each typically offers to its residents can help you decide which one is the best place for you or your relative.

Assisted Living Facilities

Assisted living facilities are usually in a residential-type home, apartment-like setting, or retirement community. They are typically popular with older people who can still basically do most of the things they need to accomplish during the day, and wish to maintain a pretty high level of independence, but at the same time they may need a little help in performing some tasks. These tasks may include help with bathing, cooking, medication, and other things. Depending on the type of assisted living facility, your loved one may be able to cook his or her own meals in a small kitchen, and central dining halls with scheduled mealtimes are often also usually provided. Staff is usually on-hand at all times to help with whatever tasks need to be done; however full-time medically-trained staff may not be there 24 hours a day. The resident’s room or apartment will not resemble a hospital room and will not typically include any medical monitoring equipment. Residents of assisted living facilities are often younger seniors who still enjoy as much independence as possible.

Nursing Homes

On the other hand, nursing homes are set up to provide constant medical monitoring to their residents. Older people who have on-going health problems, cognitive issues, need a great deal of help with personal care needs and/or require on-going supervision typically reside in nursing homes. The room may be private or semi-private, and medical monitoring equipment is often present in the room. Meals are provided to residents and the staff can help dispense medications that the residents may need. Because nursing homes provide a lot more hands-on care and are staffed with medically trained personnel at all hours of the day, nursing homes typically cost more than assisted living facilities.