Independent Living vs. Other Senior Care Options

With so many care options available, the world of senior living can be confusing. What program is the right fit for you or your loved one? As a senior living Executive Director, I would often meet with families just starting their search and wanting to know the differences between Independent Living and various other senior care options like Assisted Living. Understanding senior care differences and similarities is crucial to making a successful senior living community selection. 

Independent Living vs. Senior Living

Senior living is most commonly used as an overarching term describing all the facility types and living arrangements for seniors. Independent living is best suited for healthy seniors who want an independent lifestyle, but desire certain conveniences.

For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on Independent Living vs. Assisted Living, but first, let’s take a look at a few other categories of living for further review:

Independent Living vs. Senior Apartments

Senior apartments are for healthy seniors during their early years of retirement. While this may sound similar to Independent Living, there are some differences. Senior apartments do not usually offer meals or activities, and there are usually criteria for moving in. This can include age and income restrictions. Similar to senior living apartments, Independent Living Communities enforce age restrictions and surround residents with other seniors, but residents really have little support, other than an organic sense of community.

Independent Living vs. Retirement Communities

The main difference between a retirement community and a location that offers Independent Living is the amenities and style of living. Some retirement communities may offer amenities such as a swimming pool, tennis court, and exercise facility, however, Independent Living communities typically offer a more extensive range of dining, activities, and social amenities in addition to some of these features.

Independent Living vs. Over 55 Communities

Independent Living Communities offer a stress-free lifestyle where the hassles of life—like home upkeep, cooking, and cleaning—are taken care of so you can spend more time enjoying all the activities and amenities your community offers. Over 55 Communities provide certain conveniences, but they are often limited to providing maintenance of the building, grounds, and the apartment complex.

Independent Living vs. Active Adult Communities

Perhaps Independent Living and Active Adult Communities sound the most alike, but with a close look, they each have one major difference. The big differentiator is the availability of on-site healthcare. Active Adult Communities don't provide healthcare support systems, and if a person needs at-home healthcare services, they'll have to personally arrange for those services.

Independent Living vs. Memory Care, Skilled Nursing & In-Home Care  

Here are some frequently asked questions about Independent Living and how it interacts with other care types.  

Q: Is Independent Living Part of Memory Care?

A: No. Memory Care requires advanced nursing care. While Assisted Living Communities focus on entertaining residents while providing support with activities of daily living (ADLs), Memory Care Communities offer dementia-specific activities tailored to the unique cognitive needs of people with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Q: Is Independent Living Part of Skilled Nursing?

A: No. Independent Living is for seniors who are independent but want some services for their comfort. These services include housekeeping, meals (usually 1 or 2 per day), activities and transportation. Skilled Nursing is provided in specific Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) as a form of long-term care or short-term care. Short-term care is usually for rehabilitation.

However, there is one-way Independent Living relates to Skilled Nursing. A person may require a progression to specialized care over time. They might begin in an Independent Living Community. When physical support is needed, a transfer may occur to an Assisted Living Community. If short- or long-term care is eventually a necessity, a move to a Skilled Nursing Facility would be the next step.

Q: Is Independent Living Part of In-Home Care?

A: No. Independent Living is apartment-style living within a community where seniors largely live on their own but have a number of activities and amenities available. Home Care is a private pay service where the senior continues to live in their home until more advanced care is needed or identified.

Home Care provides support services to help someone in their home with activities like cleaning, laundry, bathing, errands (like grocery shopping and taking them to the doctor), meal preparation, and other household chores.

Independent Living vs. Assisted Living: Services and Amenities

Now that we have covered how Independent Living is different from other living categories and care types, let’s review in detail how it compares with Assisted Living. Services and amenities vary significantly between Assisted Living and Independent Living Communities. Assisted Living Communities have many services required by their regulations. In contrast, Independent Living Communities are more focused on lifestyle and convenience with some form of a safety net such as a 24-hour front desk or emergency pull cord system available in an emergency.

Dining Options

Assisted Living Communities are typically required to serve three Chef-prepared meals a day, with menus planned and approved by a licensed dietician. They will also offer a variety of special diets such as low sodium, no concentrated sugar, and pureed food options for residents with medical orders from a physician.

Independent Living Communities offer a variety of dining plans and options. Plans can vary from dinner only to three full meals per day. Some programs are à la carte, and the resident only pays for the meals they choose. Most communities have a dining room, and some may also have a bistro or café for more casual meals and coffee.

If you or your loved one prefers room-service-style meals, you will want to ask about in-room meal delivery. You may also find Independent Living programs offering no meal plans at all. An Independent Living apartment will have a fully functional kitchen in most states, and residents may prefer to cook for themselves. Depending on if you or your loved one still enjoys cooking, many safe meal options are available.

Housekeeping Services

Housekeeping services are another aspect of care usually required in a licensed Assisted Living Community. Yet, housekeeping can vary greatly in Independent Living Communities. Essential questions to ask all communities would be: What is their frequency of housekeeping services? What kind of cleaning services are performed? Are cleaning supplies provided by the community or the resident? Is personal laundry, bed linen services, and bed-making included?

Available Transportation

Your loved one may or may not still be driving your car. Most Assisted Living and all Independent Living Communities should allow residents to bring and use their vehicles if they can still operate a vehicle safely. The community will need to see proof of car insurance and may have a safe driver endorsement form that needs to be signed by the resident’s physician to bring their vehicle. Essential questions to ask a community are about parking options, fees, and parking lot security.

Community-provided transportation is a wonderful convenience and can help a senior feel better about giving up driving. Be sure to ask questions about the kind of transportation available. What days of the week are transportation services provided? Is there a certain distance around the community where transportation is provided?

Calendar of Activities and Social Events

Activities and social events are a big draw for moving into any senior living community. All communities should have monthly calendars provided to each resident and posted throughout the community for both Independent and Assisted Living programs. The community’s Activity Director will typically host a regular meeting with the residents to solicit feedback on the activities, outings, and entertainment they would like to see on the schedule. Some activities are open for all; things like show tickets or outings may require an RSVP and additional admission fees.

Activities may look a little different in an Assisted Living program. Some activities can be the same as those on the Independent Living calendar but will have modifications to meet residents' needs and abilities better. For example, instead of a traditional exercise class, you may see "chair yoga" as an Assisted Living activity.

What Type of Medical Care Is Provided?

Independent Living's primary focus is servicing the social needs of the residents. There are no care staff or medical care available to Independent Living residents. Some independent residents needing limited assistance may hire a private caregiver service at their own expense to support those needs. Stand-by assistance with showering several times a week or assistance with weekly medication setup are common scenarios. Residents are free to choose their physicians and will need to manage their medical appointments and after-care needs.

Assessment of Needs

Assisted Living programs are designed and licensed to support their residents' care and medical needs. After assessing needs is completed and reviewed with the resident and their loved ones, a Care Plan is created. This plan is followed by the care team and reviewed during surveys by the regulating body overseeing Assisted Living Communities in each state. Care delivery is documented, and care needs are re-evaluated routinely throughout the resident's stay.

Cost of Care

With Independent Living being a social, non-medical senior living program, you will usually find the costs less than Assisted Living. Suppose your loved one needs additional care support from a private agency. In that case, those fees are important to factor in when weighing the overall services and costs of independent versus Assisted Living.

Some communities have all-inclusive pricing for care, meaning costs are the same for all, regardless of care needs and future changes in conditions. Other communities follow a level of care model where each resident's individual care needs result in individualized pricing by care level.

Care staff is on-site at the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are trained to care for the resident's Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), such as bathing, dressing, grooming, medication administration, escorting residents to and from meals and activities, and assisting in any emergencies. A physician of the resident's choosing will typically make routine wellness visits and sick visits right in the resident's apartment in the community.

Other services like physical and occupational therapy and podiatry services can be found on-site. Payment for physician visits and these other additional services are not covered by the Assisted Living Community care fees and are the resident's responsibility to have billed through their Medicare or insurance program.

Are Families Involved in Decisions?

As seniors age, a family member or other trusted person in the resident's life will typically be more involved in the care of their loved one. In Independent Living, families will need to be involved in coordinating care needs for their loved ones if the resident cannot do so for themselves.

Assisted Living relieves the families of caregiver duties. The community will have staff to monitor and provide care for the residents' needs. This arrangement can reduce stress on the families and give peace of mind.

Housing Options and Pricing

When looking at apartments in any senior living community, you will find a wide variety of floor plans. Independent Living will offer a selection of private apartments that can range from small studios to large two-bedroom, two-bathroom options, or even larger.

Assisted Living uses several contributing factors to determine costs, which are driven primarily by the apartment size, living arrangements (private vs. semi-private/companion living), and the cost of care. You should expect Assisted Living to be more expensive than Independent Living due to the meal programs, 24/7 care staffing, and other costs of regulation.

If you or your loved one have limited or no medical needs, and any care support can be easily managed and pre-planned such as a weekly medication setup, Independent Living may be the right choice for you. If you or your loved one have more regular, ongoing daily care and support needs, Assisted Living may be the better fit for you.

Find an Independent Living or Assisted Living Community in Your Area  

Assisted Living and Independent Living provide many opportunities for support, dining, activities, and more. If you or your loved one needs increased support, the best option for support will be an Assisted Living Community. However, if living a fully independent lifestyle is suitable and you or your loved one want to be surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals, Independent Living may be the best option. Let Referah's team of experts help you find the right elderly care services to meet your needs.