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My sister insists that her husband should stay in an assisted living place but she has been told to move him by the administrator to a nursing facility. She is planning to put him into another assisted living home. What are the criteria for assisted living home care vs. nursing home care?

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I think it all depends on the Assisted Living and how they are licensed. It can vary from one place to another.

To add to the post I wrote earlier, my Dad had a "Medical Tech" when he lived in Independent Living [the IL was also licensed as Assisted Living] who managed all of his meds. Same when he moved over to Assisted Living/Memory Care. Also in his Assisted Living/Memory Care he had a facility Aide who would get him up in the morning, get him showered, dressed and headed him in the right direction to the dining room. Then every hour she would check on him and ask if he needed any help. She had a way of getting Dad to use the bathroom while she was there even if he said no. Then at night, she would come in and get Dad ready for bed.
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Emand.........I worked in marketing for an assisted living in Illinois for 10 years. I'll try to explain. An assisted living can only do so much. For example, if the person needs someone to administer insulin, a nurses aid can't do this. They can't administer meds. They can remind the resident to take their meds, open the container and witness them taking it. If a nurse isn't on duty 24/7 to do these things (some private pay ALs have them) the person who needs a lot of medicine management isn't appropriate for an AL. A AL resident needs to manage their daily life with "assistance" Meals, laundry, housekeeping, medicine management is all part of the "assisted" lifestyle. Needing help getting up, dressed, washed, fed and taken to the toilet etc is in the line of long term care. I think your sister is in denial about her spouse. If he has been asked to move from his present AL, his needs have changed and they can no longer meet them. Another AL will prescreen him before they admit him.
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EmanEm, some people will interchange the words "assisted living" and "nursing home" to mean the same thing. Where I live, one starts out in Independent Living apartments... some places have different levels of care that one can purchase. I did that with my Dad.

Then there is Assisted Living, which is much smaller quarters. There are Aides to help the resident as needed.

Then there is Memory Care, which is part of Assisted Living but depending on the building, might be on a separate floor. Again, the Aides help as needed. My Dad eventually moved there at the recommendation of the facility as his memory was slipping more and more, and he was a fall risk.

In my area, Nursing home or long-term-care, is where a much higher level of care is needed. Either the patient is bed ridden or has some type of brain damage, or some medical issue that requires a lot of care and higher expertness.

Sometimes a spouse or relative may not see the low point of a patient especially when it comes to memory issues. My Dad was good at "showboating" meaning he kept his mind in tact while I was there visiting. Afterwards, his mind were in the weeds and later in the day he had "sundowning". None of this I knew until I had a monthly meeting with the Staff... it was time to move him to Memory Care.

And one has to take into consideration the cost. If one is self-pay or if one is using Medicaid. Medicaid would prefer a patient to be in a nursing home.
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Well, the facilities don't make the laws, but they have to abide by them. Then cannot accept a patient who cannot get to the dining hall and back. They cannot keep a patient who has outbursts or will not follow directions from staff. Even if she tells a new facility he is fine, they will have to evaluate him prior to admission. See your state health laws.
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