Assisted living communities are usually recognized by two traits: their size and the type of care that they provide. Specifically, assisted living communities house more than about twenty residents seniors but are sometimes home to several hundred.
While the precise types of care that assisted living communities provide varies based on the licensing and local laws, they tend to be an intermediate care type, appropriate for those who do not need the intensive, high-level care of a nursing home, but who cannot conveniently or safely live alone.
Learn more about assisted living styles, and see which suburban community is best for your senior loved one.
The Benefits of Suburban Apartment-Style Assisted Living
Assisted living communities have been formed in every imaginable setting. In urban cities, for example, they are often in towers. Some assisted living communities are built in historic buildings on old estates, or in other interesting locations. In the suburbs, however, they are often in apartment complexes and in similarly styled communities.
The suburban apartment-style assisted living community is one of the most common styles of assisted living. Because they look so similar to all ages apartment complexes, you may not have even noticed it, which is one benefit of this style of assisted living. Other benefits of suburban apartment-style assisted living include:
- The communities encompass several similar buildings that are two to three stories for many residents to call home.
- That the buildings are often interconnected by a corridor, while superficially appearing to be separate buildings. Having the buildings connected by a hallway is beneficial because residents never have to trek through bad weather to access activities or dining.
- The communities are indiscernible from family apartment complexes, so residents may not feel as apart or segregated from the general community.
- When family come to visit the resident, their experience is more like visiting an apartment complex than an assisted living community, so residents are eager to host family because they feel the environment is more dignified than a setting that feels like some type of healthcare center or nursing home.
- Finally, a grandchild would be more eager to visit their grandparent at such a community, and wouldn’t necessarily realize that they were at an “senior home” unless they wandered into a common area.
Does your senior loved one live in a suburban apartment-style assisted living community? What has your experience been like visiting them there? Share your stories with us in the comments below.
