When we are young, we often tend to escape the realities of old age. Often crippled by the challenges of old age and exhausting retirement funds, many old people are faced with tragic ends which they definitely did not deserve.
With little preparation and planning you can make these golden years of your life shining with joy and happiness. If you have thought your planning ends with putting aside some money for retirement, you are grossly mistaken.
You have to plan where to spend your retirement years. You might be thinking why, what’s wrong with my own beautiful house? Well, we all love our homes dearly which have been the witness of so many important events of our lives, sharing our little joys and sorrows. We want to stay right there as long as we can.
But as health deteriorates, leading life independently in your home becomes risky. And it is here that comes to the relevance of spending the retired life in a retirement community.
Many people have qualms about leaving their own homes to move in a retirement establishment. Their apathy originates in their ignorance. Many people imagine these places as some sort of gloomy boarding houses containing a bunch of grave and old gentlemen counting their last days.
On the contrary, retirement living has acquired a different approach altogether with different types of retirement communities coming into being that offer infinite options that include independent living as well as several types of assisted living for those who find difficulty in getting through independently.
Retirement homes or housing as a term refers to a community based living situation. These are the housing especially designed for the senior citizens generally above the age of fifty five.
Here the retired and senior people live in the close proximity of their peer group and as such, they can avail themselves of various kinds of social and recreational interactions and are entitled to get special services.
The retirement housing solutions may take various forms like single-family homes in a retirement community to large group living facilities.
Are you planning for retirement living but got confused by an array of different types of housing options? Let us help you by clarifying on different types of retirement homes.
To begin with, the whole concept of retirement living is based on mainly three types of shelters:
Independent living
Assisted living
Nursing home care
There are various sub categories that are included in these basic three types of retirement living systems. Let us describe them separately.
Independent Living These are meant for the senior people who are in proper health to take care of them but need the security and the comfort of living in a community at the same time enjoying privacy of a separate apartment.
They are provided help in the maintenance of their houses.
Assisted Living These are sort of housing-with-services for those who need help with personal care such as bathing, dressing, or preparation of meal. These do not however include constant medical care and nursing.
Adult Family Homes
These are state sponsored assisted living where the state assumes responsibility for the safety and well-being of a senior member of the community.
These types of homes consist of two to six residents and provide for a room, meals, and laundry facilities. Occasional nursing care is also provided.
Nursing Homes
These places come with 24-hour medical care and skilled nursing facilities. These are meant both for the people undergoing short-term rehabilitation and the people with chronic ailments or disabilities that require skilled nursing and care with those aspects of personal care such as bathing or dressing or moving
Congregate Housing
A type of assisted living, it combines the facilities of private living quarters along with common activities like communal meals sharing and other social and recreational activities.
Continuing-Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs)
It is a combination of all three types of senior living namely independent living, assisted living, and nursing home care. The objective is to let their members continue in the same community although their housing needs may change as they grow older. So you get an overview of the types of retirement living. Now it is your turn to decide on the right type of retirement living that matches your needs.
