Difference Between Assisted Living and Independent Living?
The team here at Generations LLC lives and breathes senior living, and we know that most people might not have the same deep understanding of the daily care we provide. You can probably guess the general difference between Assisted and Independent Living, but we’re here to give you all the need-to-know details.
Differences between Assisted and Independent Living
Amount of staff contact
As the names suggest, assisted living and independent living differ in the amount of direct contact from the staff. Independent living is more like traditional apartment living: residents have their apartments connected to a senior living community that they can participate in, and staff contact (outside of maintenance and housekeeping) is rare.
Assisted living residents expect to see staff more frequently as they assist residents with their daily lives. The friendly assisted living staff members help residents with daily activities like housekeeping, laundry, meals, apartment maintenance, medical needs, and more.
Daily medical care
Similar to staff contact, assisted living is specified to include more medical professional visits. Scheduled regular visits from nurses and care professionals for assisted living residents, and staff is available and on-call 24/7.
Independent living is much more hands-off, but whether you’re an Independent or Assisted living, emergency medical assistance is a phone call away.
Cost
Of course, with such a significant difference in staff contact and medical care, it shouldn’t be surprising that assisted living and independent living have differing costs.
At Generations, Assisted Living rental rates start at $2,800, and Independent Living rental rates start at $3,290. The price may seem surprising, but independent living apartments start at a higher cost because of available floorplan sizes.
Floor plans
All senior living communities are different but assisted living and independent living offers different floorplans in our communities.
Assisted living floor plans range from studio to two-bedroom apartments:
Studio
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
Independent living floor plans at Generations tend to be somewhat larger, starting at one bedroom and going up to two-bedroom.
1 Bedroom
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
Ways that Independent Living and Assisted Living are similar
Amenities
Both Assisted Living and Independent Living residents have access to their retirement community’s available amenities. For example, Generations offers several great amenities to all our residents:
- Library with fireplace
- Hobby shop
- Art studio
- Gardens
- Billiards lounge
- Beauty salon
Many of the standard offerings with assisted living, such as meal services and housekeeping, are also available to independent living residents.
Quality of Care
While we cannot speak for other senior living communities, we’re confident that the quality of care at Generations is the same no matter what living option you choose. Whether a resident lives independently, needs assistance with daily tasks, or requires hands-on memory care, you can rest assured that the staff at our locations are taking care of them.
All Generations communities are different, with each location offering a combination of services.
We’ve compiled a list of the most important questions to ask.
The difference between assisted living and memory care.