Always Best Care Senior Services

Welcome to Always Best Care Senior Services

Since 1996, Always Best Care has helped thousands of families with non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral services. In select markets, we've also added skilled home care for clients that suffer from illness or injury.

Our passion for helping people maintain a safe, independent, and dignified lifestyle represents the strong foundation of Always Best Care. Every client receives extraordinary care in an inspiring environment with caring and compassionate people. Our Care Coordinators have worked with thousands of seniors across the country, and we're always ready to help you!

Home Care Services

As people age, they have a need for constant companionship. If you and your family cannot provide the level of companionship to best benefit your elderly loved one, you can turn to home care services. A professional that provides in-home senior care can help your loved one with a variety of tasks, aside from anything related to their health or wellness.

Common Tasks

•    Paperwork Assist with paying bills, writing letters, making lists, handling subscriptions, and even clipping coupons
•    Exercise for the Brain Help with brain exercises including simple crosswords, word searches, or card games to keep the brain stimulated
•    Minor Household Chores Water the plants, help choose clothing items, dust, vacuum, change linens and obtain the mail
•    Meals Assist with meal planning, preparation, shopping for the ingredients, organizing the pantry, and watching food expiration dates

The right in-home senior care professional can provide just about any non-medical need your loved one might have including any social, household, or personal tasks that they can no longer handle. It is important to help your loved ones retain their independence as long as possible. With the right home care services, they can feel independent without too much pressure from family or loved ones trying to take over the tasks themselves.

Assisted Living

At Always Best Care Senior Services, we believe that an educated, informed consumer makes the best decisions. Our objective is to help you make informed decisions about important health care issues and how they affect your daily life. Because we respect your right to make those decisions, our emphasis is on providing a variety of resources from a wide spectrum of viewpoints, not on simply presenting our own opinions.

We have pulled a variety of terms and phrases that are typically associated with senior housing and assisted living, and we are pleased to present definitions for each of these to you. If you have any questions about these definitions or the activities, issues, or places they describe, please contact the local Always Best Care office nearest you.

Select from the list below to view the definition

•    Accreditation
•    Assisted Living Community
•    Congregate Housing
•    Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)
•    Independent Living Community
•    Kitchenette
•    Life Care Community
•    Long-Term Care
•    Nursing Home
•    Residential Care for the Elderly (RCFE Home)

Accreditation

A Seal of approval given by a governing body to a housing and/or service provider. To become accredited, the community or provider must meet specific requirements set by the accreditation entity and is then generally required to undergo a thorough review process by a team of evaluators to ensure certain standards of The accrediting organizations are not government agencies or regulatory bodies. Examples of some accreditation bodies for the senior housing and care industry include CCAC (Continuing Care Accreditation Commission), CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), and JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health care Organizations).

Assisted Living Community

In general, a state-licensed program offered at a residential community with services that include meals, laundry, housekeeping, medication reminders, and assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). The exact definition will vary from state to state, and a few states do not license assisted living facilities. They are generally regarded as one to two steps below skilled nursing in the level of care. Approximately 90 percent of the country's assisted living services are paid for with private funds, although some states have adopted Medicaid waiver programs. Might also be referred to as Personal Care, Board, and Care, Residential Care, Boarding Home, etc., although some states differentiate between their definition of Assisted Living and these other terms (e.g., Washington state recognizes and licenses Assisted Living facilities as well as Boarding Homes; Although licensed by the State of Washington, a Boarding Home does not meet the higher physical plant and service requirements necessary to be considered an Assisted Living facility).

Congregate Housing

Congregate Housing is a shared living environment designed to integrate the housing and services needs of elders and younger disabled individuals. The goal of Congregate Housing is to increase self-sufficiency through the provision of supportive services in a residential setting. Congregate Housing is neither a nursing home nor a medical care facility.

Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)

Housing planned and operated to provide a continuum of accommodations and services for seniors including, but not limited to, independent living, congregate housing, assisted living, and skilled nursing care. A CCRC resident contract often involves either an entry fee or buy-in fee in addition to the monthly service charges, which may change according to the medical services required. Entry fees may be partially or fully refundable. The fee is used primarily as a method of privately financing the development of the project and for payment for future health care. CCRCs are typically licensed by the state. See also Life Care Community.

Independent Living Community

A multi-unit senior housing development that may provide supportive services such as meals, housekeeping, social activities, and transportation (Congregate Housing, Supportive Housing, Retirement Community). Independent living typically encourages socialization by the provision of meals in a central dining area and scheduled social programs. May also be used to describe housing with few or no services (such as a Senior Apartment).

Kitchenette

Each facility may have its own definition of a kitchenette, but generally one includes a sink, cabinet space, and a mini-refrigerator, maybe a microwave. In contrast, a full kitchen would usually have a burner unit, sink, cabinets, full-size refrigerator, and possibly a microwave or stove.

Life Care Community

A Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) that offers an insurance type contract and provides all levels of care. It often includes payment for acute care and physician's visits. Little or no change is made in the monthly fee, regardless of the level of medical care required by the resident, except for the cost of living increases.

Long-Term Care

Provision of services to people of any age who are afflicted with chronic health impairments.

Nursing Home

A facility licensed by the state that provides 24-hour nursing care, room, and board, and activities for convalescent residents and those with chronic and/or long-term care illnesses. One step below hospital acute care. Regular medical supervision and rehabilitation therapy are mandated to be available, and nursing homes are eligible to participate in the Medicaid program. May be referred to as a skilled nursing facility or convalescent home.

Residential Care for the Elderly (RCFE Home)

A residential care home for seniors, or RCFE, sometimes also known as a Board & Care Home, is typically a traditional home that has been converted to a care home and is licensed by the state to take care of seniors. Most RCFE provide care for up to six seniors; however, they can be smaller or larger in size. RCFE homes were the first widely recognized form of assisted living, and they provide similar care but typically not as much social interaction. Residents of an RCFE Home have a private or shared room and may have private or shared bathrooms. The rooms usually do not include a kitchen, since providing meals is a major function of the home. RCFE homes generally have some common areas for socializing, including a dining area and one or more other rooms that are mainly for informal contact. Some of the key characteristics of an RCFE home are:

•    Activities of daily living (dressing, personal care, bathing, incontinence care)
•    Meals served (usually communal style)
•    24-hour supervision (around the clock staff but not necessary Awake staff)
•    Community Services (laundry, cleaning, etc.)
•    Health services (medications management and dispensing, diabetes care)
•    Overall health (physical, emotional)

Types of Dementias

Dementia can be caused by nearly 40 different diseases and conditions. The Encyclopedia of Mind Disorders lists various types of dementia:

•    Primary dementias are characterized by damage to or wasting away of the brain tissue itself. They include Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontal lobe dementia (FLD), and Pick's disease. FLD is dementia caused by a disorder (usually genetic) that affects the front portion of the brain, and Pick's disease is a rare type of primary dementia that is characterized by a progressive loss of social skills, language, and memory, leading to personality changes and sometimes loss of moral judgment.
•    Multi-infarct dementia (MID) or vascular dementia is caused by blood clots in the small blood vessels of the brain. When the clots cut off the blood supply to the brain tissue, the brain cells are damaged and may die.
•    Lewy body dementia. Lewy bodies are areas of injury found on damaged nerve cells in certain parts of the brain. They are associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but researchers do not yet know whether dementia with Lewy bodies is a distinct type of dementia or a variation of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
•    Dementia-related alcoholism or exposure to heavy metals.
•    Dementia-related to infectious diseases. These infections may be caused by HIV, viral encephalitis, Lyme disease, syphilis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, etc.
•    Dementia-related to abnormalities in the structure of the brain. These may include a buildup of spinal fluid in the brain, tumors, or blood collecting beneath the membrane that covers the brain.

Delirium, or temporary states of confusion

Another condition, called delirium, is a temporary state of confusion. It is common for an older adult in an unfamiliar situation to exhibit what appears to be dementia but gradually clears after a short period of time. Delirium may also be associated with depression, low levels of thyroid hormone, or niacin or vitamin B12 deficiency, and is often remedied with medical treatment.

The rise in using the term Alzheimer's to include any type of dementia has grown over the years, largely due to the association that those with dementia are demented, a word with historically negative connotations.

Education on issues like Alzheimer's is just one small way in which senior care coordinators at Always Best Care Senior Services help many communities throughout the country.

Assisted Living Services

Selecting the Right Community Can Be a Daunting Task:

Senior housing can take many forms, including independent and assisted living communities, Alzheimer's and dementia care homes, residential care homes (also known as board and care), and skilled nursing facilities.

An assisted living community for seniors provides care for persons who need some help with activities of daily living, yet who wish to remain as independent as possible. These communities bridge the gap between independent living and nursing homes. Residents in assisted living communities aren't able to live by themselves, but they don't require constant care either. Medical care is limited in an assisted living community and each state sets its own limits. Residents are assessed when they move into the community so the community can develop an individualized service plan to ensure that each senior gets the best care possible.

There are thousands of assisted living communities in the United States. The number of residents living in a community can vary greatly. Each community offers different levels of care and charges varying rates. The communities are all designed differently, from high rises to classic Victorians. Room configurations vary from studios to one or two-bedroom apartments with kitchenettes.

Assisted living is appropriate for anyone who can no longer manage to live on their own but doesn't require medical care.  Residents may suffer from memory disorders, various diseases, or simply need help with mobility, incontinence, or other challenges.

Senior Housing Services

Since 1996, Always Best Care Senior Services has been changing the way people think about senior living. We take pride in helping seniors foster their independence.  We understand what communities are best suited for you, or your loved one.

In order to assist you in your selection of the appropriate assisted living community, Always Best Care has contracted with select properties to advise you of their amenities and services they offer. Because Always Best Care is compensated by our contracted assisted living communities, we are happy to provide our senior housing and assisted living referral services at no charge to you.

With our no-cost referral services, we match our clients with the top three or four of our assisted living partners that offer the most appropriate living options based upon your individual needs, custom screening, and available budgets.

Then, we personally escort our clients and their families on a tour of the matched assisted living communities, residential care homes, Alzheimer's and dementia care communities, or retirement communities so they may decide which senior housing option is best for them. Although our senior housing referral services attempt to match you to the appropriate assisted living communities based on your needs and preferences, you are under no obligation to select one of those communities.

Always Best Care helps seniors and their families through the entire process. Our Care Coordinators are local and have in-depth knowledge of the services provided by our contracted assisted living communities. Contact your local Always Best Care representative today for your no-cost no-obligation consultation.