Elder Care in the Los Angeles Area

Providing elder care for a loved one can feel like a heart-wrenching and all-consuming project. For those living in the Los Angeles area there are a multitude of care choices and it can all seem a bit daunting, but it doesn't have to be. While it still may not be easy, there are tools available to help you along the way.

In-Home Supportive Services in Los Angeles County

In-home care is the preference of many elderly and their families, but the reality of in-home care can put a strain on family caregivers with other responsibilities. Professional caregivers can be hired to come into the home as needed, whether to give a family caregiver a break, or to provide needed assistance. Adult Protective Services (APS) are available to dependent adults in the state of California. This includes individuals age 65 or older and people 18-64 who are dependent physically or who are mentally impaired. Under this protection, the Personal Assistance Services Council (PASC) is the arm that provides In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) in Los Angeles County. PASC has a registry which provides referrals for IHSS consumers as well as access to training and support services. This training can help family members provide care and find the support they need.

Resources for In-home Care

There are a number of resources that provide in-home care in the Los Angeles area. Here are a few to help start your search:

• Acti Kare: Caregivers are trained to provide assistance in all aspects of daily living and help the elderly to live safely and independently. They also have individuals trained to aid those with Alzheimer's or dementia.


• Good Company Senior Care: Provides in-home help from as little as 4 hour visits to 24 hour live-in assistance. Along with help with day-to-day activities, they also provide help with shopping and errands, monitor diet, and will even help take care of pets. Help for Alzheimer's needs is also available.


• Home Instead: Offers homecare services including companionship, personal care services, 24 hour or live-in care and help for those with dementia and Alzheimer's.

Living Independently in Los Angeles

If you're looking for elder care in the Los Angeles area that offers independent living with some assistance, there is a consumer directed program that can be used as a resource to help guide you. LILA (Living Independently in Los Angeles) is an online project designed to benefit people with disabilities living in Los Angeles County. The information provided through this interactive project is a collection of knowledge offered by local residents willing to share their personal experience to identify independent living resources in the area.

Residential Care Facilities in Los Angeles

Residential care facilities in the Los Angeles area offer different levels of care. Assisted living facilities offer elder care that allows a level of independence paired with help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, management of meds, help in dressing and bathing and other day-to-day activities. This type of help is known as custodial care and does not involve skilled nursing care. Facilities that offer skilled nursing care are often covered by insurance, while custodial care facilities often are not. Take this into consideration as you search for a facility. This short list of facilities that offer elder care in the Los Angeles area are a good example of the types of care available:

• Ayres Residential Care Home: Offers assisted living options in three different private homes located in residential neighborhoods. The provide personalized care that includes home cooking, transportation, daily activities, rehabilitation, and amenities including professional hair stylists, and elegant surroundings.


• Raya's Paradise: Provides board and care for the elderly. Services range from assisted living for the elderly, accepts Alzheimer's and dementia residents, and also offers respite and short term stays and Hospice care.


• Hollenbeck Palms: This retirement community offers custodial care, skilled nursing care and wellness programs.

Seek a Professional Assessment

Before you decide on exactly what type of care your elderly loved one needs get a professional assessment to determine their current and future needs. This will help you find the right long-term care solution.

Long Term Care And The Tricky New Medicaid Rules

The new law makes it much more difficult to protect a family's wealth while having the government pay long-term nursing home costs for a family member through Medicaid. What you need to know...

THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDICARE

Surveys show that most people greatly underestimate their risk of needing nursing home care someday. The cost of such care already is extremely high, close to or exceeding $100,000 per year in many parts of the country and rising steadily. Over a period of years, it can consume a family's lifetime of savings and leave it deeply in debt.

Big mistake: Thinking that after the age of 65, Medicare pays for nursing home care.

Reality: Medicare pays the full cost for only 20 days of "rehabilitative" nursing home care, which must occur after a hospital stay. After that, it covers another 80 days with the patient paying the first $124 (in 2007) of daily costs (about $3,700 per month). After these 100 days, coverage ends.

WILL MEDICAID PAY?

Long-term nursing home care could be covered by Medicaid, a government program that provides health care to low-income, low-wealth individuals.

To be eligible: One must own few assets (usually less than $2,000 worth, with some exceptions noted below) and have only nominal annual income. The amount depends on where you reside - for instance, in New York you can retain income of only $692 per month. If the care recipient is married, his/her spouse generally can't have assets exceeding approximately $99,000, and can have only a modest income, with exact amounts varying by state.

Until recently, many seniors had planned to use Medicaid to cover their long-term care by transferring their personal wealth to other family members. They made gifts of assets to other family members and/or paid expenses (such as college tuition costs) for them.

Snag: The new rules make this strategy much more difficult.

TOUGH NEW RULES

To restrict the rapid growth in Medicaid costs, Congress enacted tough new eligibility rules effective in 2006, with the exact date varying by state. Rule changes...

*Tougher "look-back" computation. The look-back period has now been increased from three years to five years.

Plus, the ineligibility period that results from transfers made during the look-back period now begins only when the individual would become eligible for Medicaid benefits but for the transfers - that is, after his assets would have been exhausted - instead of on the earlier date when the transfers were made.

Situation: An older individual gives wealth preserving gifts totaling $320,000 to several of his family members. Two-and-a-half years later, he needs long-term nursing home care. The cost of care in his area is $8,000 per month.

Under old law, if the individual had retained $48,000, he could use it to pay for his own care for six months. This period added to the time since the gifts were made equals three years, so he would then be eligible for Medicaid and his $320,000 of gifts would be secured.

Under new law, the five-year look-back period "catches" the $320,000 of gifts. This makes the individual ineligible for Medicaid benefits for 40 months ($320,000 divided by $8,000 per month equals 40 months).

Worse, this ineligibility period now starts only after the individual has spent down on his own care whatever wealth he's kept. He then is left with the need to finance 40 months of nursing home care on his own, while having no wealth to pay for it!

Other family members may be called on to return gifts received from the individual to pay for his care. If they have spent the funds (such as on college costs), this may not be an option.

Recommended: Know the law in your state. Medicaid laws vary greatly by state and are very complex, with many special rules and exceptions. Examine the laws of your state with a legal expert to find special rules that may help in your situation.

MORE CHANGES

Other restrictions in the new law...

*Home ownership. Persons with more than $500,000 of equity in a home now are ineligible for Medicaid benefits. (Individual states may increase this limit to $750,000.)

Thankfully, individuals who have a spouse, children under age 21 or adult children with disabilities living in the home are exempt from this ruling. Previously, there was no such restriction (although states might try to recover the cost of care later through a lien placed on a home or a claim made against it in probate).

*Annuities. When an individual, who is receiving Medicaid benefits, or the spouse of such an individual, owns an annuity, the state must be the remainder beneficiary of the annuity. In this manner, the state's cost of Medicaid benefits (up to the amount provided) is repaid.

*Spouses not receiving care. When the spouse who receives most of a couple's income (such as from a pension) is institutionalized, applying all of that income toward Medicaid costs can result in great hardship to the other spouse (the "community spouse").

As a result, some states have enacted rules that allow shifting of assets to the community spouse free of Medicaid claims.

The new law sharply restricts such actions, increasing hardship on many community spouses in such states.

SELF-DEFENSE

To protect wealth now...

*Purchase long-term-care insurance. This will pay for future nursing home care. It is the safest way of providing for future care needs while protecting family wealth.

If you don't already own long-term-care insurance, consider buying it now. The earlier in life you buy, the lower the cost of the premium.

Beware of an early disability. During working years, you are more likely to be disabled, potentially requiring long-term care, than to die.

Check whether your employer provides long-term-care insurance - if it does not, purchase your own.

*Make wealth-shifting gifts early. For gifts to other family members to be effective at protecting family wealth, they now must be made a full five years before a need for Medicaid assistance arises.

*Purchase items exempt from the wealth test. Items not counted among assets when qualifying for Medicaid include clothing, jewelry, books and an auto needed for work or to travel to obtain medical care. Reduce cash balances by buying things that retain value, such as rare books and fine jewelry.

*Purchase a single-life annuity. This can reduce wealth by converting it to income that ends with your life (and so does not have the state as a secondary beneficiary).

*Take out a home-equity loan. Reduce the equity in your home to below the $500,000 (or $750,000) limit. Borrowing can be used for living expenses, to fund gifts, buy exempt assets or buy a single-life income annuity.

*Take out a reverse mortgage. This, too, can be used to decrease home equity - but fees are higher than the home-equity loan, and a reverse mortgage generally provides less flexibility than home-equity borrowing. Only use this strategy as a last resort.

*Deed a home to children while retaining a life estate in it. This gives you the right to use the home while you live while removing its value from your assets.

Snags: You expose the home to children's creditors ... if future conflicts arise between you and your children, this arrangement could become uncomfortable.

*Set up an irrevocable "Medicaid trust". By irrevocably transferring your assets to the trust, you reduce your wealth to qualify for Medicaid. The trust administers the assets for your family as you direct, and pays you a set amount of income for life at an amount that preserves Medicaid eligibility.

Snag: The income you receive is fixed, so you must be sure it will be sufficient.

New York Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing homes are meant to be a safe place for the elderly where help is provided to those who cannot attend to their own daily needs. Whatever the best intentions of staff and nurses are, often patients fall through the cracks. Unfortunately abuse in skilled nursing facilities is a somewhat common occurrence. It has been reported that there is a rise in the number of abuse claims in many nursing homes within New York.

Hospitalized senior citizens often become victims of abuse, incompetence, and neglect. In some cases, patient records in nursing homes have been doctored in order to hide problems. The increase in New York elder abuse is the same as throughout the country: large corporations expect large profit from nursing homes yet provide less care for patients. These facilities are often understaffed and their nurses and nursing assistants underpaid. These problems are typical throughout the nursing home system. Larger cities often bear the worst level of consequences for patients in elder homes.

Instances of Abuse of Elderly in New York

Typical examples of elder abuse are cases where the elderly patient suffers from bed sores. When neglected and treatment not given for an issue such as this, the sores become so infected the bedsores reach the level of residents' bones, causing infection and pain for the patient. These sores are painful and rather difficult to treat and cure, and arise mainly because of insufficient staff or poor care, leading to inadequate care of the patients' daily living needs. Other areas of concern are personal hygiene, adequate food and hydration and response to patients' daily needs.

In more severe cases, elderly residents' have also become victims of rape, physical abuse and other violence in nursing facilities. Although rare, these situations arise when staff are not properly screened during employment interviews, poorly trained or poor quality staff are hired due to low wages for the position. There are times these types of cases go unnoticed or undocumented. Family members may contact their local Ombudsman who act as a liaison with the nursing home and the state to deal with severe staff and patient problems. Family members must be proactive when addressing this type of abusive situation. Documentation of events by family members can then be discussed with the New York local Ombudsman and a nursing home abuse attorney may be brought in to advise and prepare litigation if needed.

Corporation Profit vs Insufficient Nursing Staff

Skilled nursing facilities are often understaffed with workers who are underpaid for the amount of work they do. Even the best intentions by CNA's (certified nursing assistants) go by the wayside when severely understaffed. When time constraints happen CNA's must provide care to eight to fifteen patients at a time. This can result in less care taken when feeding a patient, dressing and daily care of patients. As some skilled nursing facilities cut down on staff to increase their profits, the existing staff does not have sufficient time to ensure all their residents get fed, bathed, clothed, gotten up from their bed to their wheelchair or taken to social acitivities. A lack of hygiene can mean bedsores for an elderly resident. Overworked and underpaid staff at times equate to poor quality care for elderly patients.

Patients Medicated to Keep Quiet

Another issue that may happen in these facilities is inadequate medical care. Doctors do not always visit the patient on a timely basis. Registered nurses (RN's) are stretched thin as they too are usually understaffed. The lack of time for quality medical care at times leads to more medication to quiet the patient. Over medication is elder abuse and should be addressed with your attorney.

New York Nursing Home Provider Associations

Nursing home provider associations often have helpful information about skilled nursing facilities that are their members. Here is a list of New York organizations focused on assistance to elderly care.

County Nursing Facilities of New York
111 Pine Street
Albany, New York 12207
Phone: 518-465-1473

Greater NY Healthcare Facilities Association
360 W. 31st St., Ste. 303
New York, New York 10001
212-643-2828

Greater NY Hospital Association
555 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10019
212-246-7100

Healthcare Association of NYS
1 Empire Drive
Rensselaer, New York 12144
518-431-7600

Intercounty Health Facilities Assoc.
1615 Northern Blvd. Suite 306
Manhasset, New York 11030
516-627-3131

NY Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
150 State Street, Suite 301
Albany, New York 12207-1698
518-449-2707

NYS Health Facilities Association
33 Elk Street, Suite 300
Albany, New York 12207-1010
518-462-4800

Southern New York Association, Inc.
39 Broadway, Room 2805
New York, New York 10006
212-425-5050

With so much going on behind closed doors of New York nursing facilities, the families of elderly residents must turn to civil litigation for justice. It is often difficult to prove abuse with elderly in a skilled nursing setting. Working with an attorney who is knowledgable about New York state regulations for the elderly is advisable. Contact a reputable New York elder law attorney who specializes in these types of cases.for advice on how to proceed with litigation.

Health Information Technology Degree

There are two different categories of technology of human resources in the healthcare industry. They are Healthcare IT and Informatics Professionals. The informatics professionals more often deal with the investigation and explanation of experimental information and remedial information, whereas the healthcare information technology professionals holds the servers, hardware, software and installation services in general connected with a distinctive IT department. The professionals in the field of associates of applied science in this field are in charge for the accurate maintenance of patient's health check records and association.

Coursework included in Healthcare IT Programs

A person should focus and be appropriate in the perceptions and proficiencies to real world situations. The set of courses in this field includes these attractive career courses: -

• Legal and Regulatory Issues in Health Information


• Basic Medical Terminology


• International Classification of Diseases coding I


• Health Insurance and Reimbursement


• Introduction to Health Services and Information Systems

Careers in Health IT field

There are many career opportunities for associates of applied science in this field. The Healthcare Information Technicians are mostly employed at: -

• Hospitals


• Public health organizations


• Home health agencies


• Nursing homes


• Ambulatory care practices


• Medical group practices


• Insurance Companies

Goals of Health Information Technology Program

It is expected by the students at the completion of the program that they will be able to: -

1. Effectively geared up as fitness information technicians in health informatics.


2. Practice as Health Data Technicians in health statistics and quality management.


3. Organized as Health Selective Information Technicians in health informatics.


4. Demonstrate knowledge in medical terminology, pharmacology, anatomy and physiology and pathophysiology.


5. Prepare as a Technician in health data management.


6. In arranging Health Content Technicians in health services organization freedom comparably in Medical Law and Ethical Standards.

Courses in Health Information Technology Degree

Some of the courses in Health Information Technology Degree are: -

• Health Insurance Management


• Healthcare Delivery Systems


• Legal Aspects of Health Care


• Computerized Practice Management


• Principles of Management


• Career Development


• Medical Terminology and Pharmacology


• Human Resource Management


• Microcomputer Concepts and Keyboarding


• Managing the Medical Office


• Introduction to IT field


• Health Law Concepts and Compliance

Conclusion

To conclude, if a person earns associate degree in this field than he is well prepared to join any of the occupation related to Healthcare Information Technology. The associate degree in this field teaches about how to use technology to bring together, scrutinizes, keep an eye on and maintain the details of physical condition data. These functions consist of other responsibility, dealing out and using health information for the clinical quality organization, regulating of clinical information, listing and repayment and giving out requirements for the discharge of individual fitness information.

The Pros and Cons of Using Electronic Medical Records in Healthcare

Electronic medical records have proven to be paving the way in which hospitals, doctor's offices, and clinics begin the search to become environment friendly, more secure, and much more successful.

Even though prices are undoubtedly of interest to medical providers, the actual benefits associated with switching from paper records to electronic medical records tend to be the determining factors.

We come across EMRs in the following locations:

• Medical Doctors


• Doctors of Osteopathic


• Chiropractors


• Physical Therapist


• Podiatrists


• Hospitals


• Dentists Offices


• Assisted Living Facilities

Electronic medical records are the natural evolution of medical information of previous times.

Since the world is now more technical in addition to environmentally oriented, medical offices have been under the gun for the use of ridiculous amounts of paper waste.

The medical profession has long been looking for ways to be more effective and also affordable. Many practitioners and hospitals have been less than aggressive in shifting to electronic medical records because it requires an enormous investment in time and money for medical businesses to shift from conventional paper to electronic medical records.

When an office or hospital finally makes this initial investment, they rely on the fact that the system will pay dividends in both time and money.

The impacts this will have with patients is also very positive. Patients are anticipated to have better total satisfaction as a result of lower wait periods for medical professionals to process records and also an eventual cost savings for treatment.

The chance to communicate with patients has also been enhanced by using EMRs and the simplicity of sharing files among facilities has also greatly increased. It is a very large advantage for providers and pharmacies to be able to efficiently communicate through electronic medical records to make sure patients do not encounter drug interactions and wrong dosages.

An additional plus with regard to clients and patients is definitely the increased security of the information under electronic "lock and key" as opposed to the instability associated with documents. Establishments can easily take steps to protect patient information beyond that of normal building security, but it is the establishments responsibility to protect passwords and best practice in order to protect patient information.

Establishments which employ the application of electronic medical records normally do this following much consideration. The expenses linked to going through the change from paper to electronic are not really to be scoffed at.

Soon after making the investment though, EMRs are sure to pay for themselves.

Practices realize that they are more readily in the position to create a review of clients, share information with other medical professionals, along with keeping a high level of security.

Electronic medical records confirm their original cost by means of more efficiently operating workplaces.

The way forward for EMRs is much better. It really is envisioned for all practices to make the change to maintaining digital data. Most likely in the future systems may well be more compatible with one another helping to make the actual sharing of files a lot less difficult. The advantages seem unlimited and the industry is definitely on the climb as they quite simply still innovate and streamline much of our healthcare practices.

Patients will have a much more exciting role of in future as they team with doctors and hospitals to better make decisions concerning their medical future, and this is the true power behind electronic medical records.

We hope you've discovered this informative article about EMR's valuable. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Senior Friendly Homes - 21 Ideas & Tips on Adapting a Home For Senior Living

If you are thinking of moving into a home, building one that you can retire in, or wondering how you can make your elderly parent's home easier to live in - there are some things to look for to make living as a Senior Adult or a person with a disability easier. Here is a list of 21 proven helpful ideas and tips.

1. Rocker style light switches and lots of ways to turn lights on/off from different locations - commonly known as 2-way or 3-way. Plenty of natural lighting, overhead lights and electrical outlets. Ideally, electrical outlets should be higher off the floor than code says and many more in number, this makes placing of lights easier, cords are less likely to be in the way too. In large spaces, consider in-floor outlets which will eliminate cords and allow for furniture placement options. This also is very handy if you have a small bedroom and someone needs a hospital bed in a living or dining room area.

2. All doors - going inside/outside and doorways into rooms should be at least 36" for wheelchair, scooter, walker, etc. use. You need to have 18" wall space free of clutter on the latch side of the doorway (in & out of room) so if you are in a wheelchair you can get close enough to the handle to easily open/close the door. Watch out not to block the space with furniture. Look into pocket doors - you gain footage and ease.

3. Plenty of phone jacks so phones can be throughout the house, as you age, it takes longer to get to the phone. This also is safer in case of emergency situations.

4. Railings up/down stairs both sides, railings in the bathroom for balance getting up/down on the toilet and in/out of showers/tubs.

5. Think about a security system that include an emergency button that has a wrist or neck chain you can wear or put in your pocket. These are very affordable and can even be used outside within many feet of the home.

6. Hang a tennis ball on a string from the ceiling in the garage to hit your windshield at the right parking spot. Makes life easier. Make sure that if you have electric garage door openers, that if the power goes out, a "short" and not physically strong person can open the door to get the car out. Think about an on-demand generator... takes care of so many obstacles and dangers.

7. Have drawers for all of your under cabinets in the kitchen, makes finding things easy, less lifting and actually uses space more efficiently.

8. Washer/Dryer on floor near bedroom as this is where most laundry is generated.

9. Make sure house is one floor, or if two-story, has a staircase extra wide so a stair-chair climber can be installed. They now have home elevators at affordable prices that work like a bank air tube and thus they even work when there is no power coming downstairs.

10. Windows should be able to be cleaned from inside the house, both sides.

11. Really spend time looking at the bathroom and how you can make it usable if you broke your leg, if you had severe arthritis or if you were weak. Tub/shower/faucets/sprayers/slipping/room for equipment and mobility equipment.

12. Door knobs and faucet knobs should be lever type.

13. Maintenance free as much as you can, inside and outside of the home.

14. Is the home located near important resources such as grocery store, doctor/medical, pharmacy,
friends, and church/clubs/activities? Consider this in case you can't drive at night or very far or if you couldn't drive at all. How far to fire/rescue/police services too.

15. Open space vs. a house with many tiny rooms is best for flexibility as you age. Consider how far you have to walk in the home just to do daily living activities.

16. Think about a doggie or cat door, if appropriate and the animal will be safe. It could go into a fenced in area, they can be closed off at night and they make living much easier.

17. Re-think flooring. Does it have to be washed often, is it slippery, can a wheelchair go on it easily, and is it easy to care for and maintenance.

18. Stairs whether they are inside or outside the house can quickly become large obstacles, consider placement, width & rise, how often need to use, number, etc. for your future being to access areas of your home, getting in/out of your home and being safe.

19. Higher toilets are available and they make it easier to get up/down. There are now combo shower/tubs you walk into and they keep coming down in price too.

20. Having paved driveways and walkways is very helpful for safety, use of devices is necessary and in a snow climate, they melt faster. Consider fire escape plans too, we just don't move as quickly or as easily as we age or when you have limitations.

21. If you can just look at a home through aging eyes or have someone with a disability or who is a Senior Adult look at things for you, you can have a much happier, safer and easier life in your home.

Vocational Rehabilitation, which is in every state and usually located in the Department of Labor or Human Services, has at least one person fully trained in accessibility. (They are responsible for the Americans with Disabilities Act) and would be able to answer questions about your home in the sense of what can be done to make things easier. Some disability organizations may have a trained person in accommodations/adaptations too, or contact The Practical Expert.com for Tonia who is well trained in this area and who also lives it.

If you belong to a club, think about having it reviewed for suggestions of making it easier to access. This helps Senior Adults, people with disabilities and even people with a temporary injury (such as a person with a broken leg) to attend things like school graduations, belonging to civic organizations, for volunteering at places and going to many types of activities. Many accommodations/adaptations have no cost or little cost that can make a huge impact in people utilizing the place. Example, # of handicap spots at a school and how far to walk to the gym, etc.

Keeping your eye on how life can be more accessible and safer for senior adults, elderly parents and people with injuries or disabilities, means it is easier and safer for everyone, not just for today but for the future too.

Assisted Living - A Boon For the Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Ill

Assisted living is a service that is offered by specialised organizations to adults that require assistance for doing everyday tasks. Assisted living residences offer assistance and supervision with daily routine activities, provide coordination with external caregivers and ensure proper monitoring of activities to ensure the wellbeing of the residents.

The services offered by such organizations may also include supervision and administration of medicines and specialised care offered by trained personnel. The roots of assisted living may be traced back to the 1990's when such communities came into existence and went beyond providing mere independent living or eldercare.

Senior living facilities comprise 24/7 services offered to suit the requirements of every individual. In the US there is no well carved out definition for assisted living, however these care givers come under the purview of the states. Over the years such facilities have emerged as real boons for those in need of specialised care round the clock.

The philosophy that is promoted through these service providers are dignity and independence to the elderly and the sick. The various alternative licensure terms that are used to define assisted living facility include residential care homes, personal care homes and assisted care living facilities.

In line with the various licensure terms, the physical layouts of the facilities also vary widely ranging from small facilities housing three individuals to large houses with hundreds of residents. Senior living has got a new definition with such care givers offering a variety of services to senior citizens.

The Different Kinds Of Services Offered By Assisted Living Facilities Include:

* Typical Resident Facilities: Such facilities are provided to senior citizens who do not require constant supervision and intensive medical care. People who fall under this category are in need of companionship and require some assistance for daily living.
* Specialised Facilities: Specialised facilities such as in-house medical and dental support are provided to people who require such care. Senior citizens who are temporarily incapacitated due to prolonged illness, accident or surgery are taken in and given specialised care by skilled staff. Nowadays facilities are designed keeping in mind the requirements of disabled people so that they can move easily on wheelchairs.
* Routine Health Check-up: Regular health check-up is carried out to monitor the wellbeing of the residents. Exercises and recreational programs are conducted for total wellbeing of the residents.

As a society, we developed nursing homes to offer specialised medical care to patients. However, patients often require more than just medical care. They seek companionship and a way to dignified and independent living. Assisted living offers all these and more for a nominal fee.

Most of the states stipulate training of assisted living facilities staff and do a criminal background check before issuing licences to care givers. Training requirements are categorized as direct care, emergency cases, safety, knowledge, health care related issues and processes.

Direct care includes tasks performed by trained staff directly with the inmates. Health related tasks include restorative and preventive tasks along with basic nursing skills. Knowledge requirements address the need to understand ageing process, psychological needs of terminally ill or dying residents, communication skills and development of care plans.