For elders who need a little extra help with the task of everyday living, assisted living centers may well be the answer.There are many options today that are available alternatives to 24-hour care nursing homes. Clearly, selection of the option that’s right for you or your loved one requires a little effort to compare costs of senior living alternatives.
Assisted living can take many forms today that simply weren’t available just a generation ago. Today’s senior care facilities offer a broad spectrum of services, including 24 hour staffing to ensure proper attention without sacrificing the privacy or self esteem of residents.
Best of all, senior living can be obtained at a substantially reduced financial burden compared to all-inclusive nursing home care.
Certainly, many factors must be taken into consideration when weighing the different aspects involved in selecting the right senior living care facility. Fortunately, there are a great number of resources available to help compare costs of senior living. Depending upon where the prospective senior resident lives, local regulations, services offered and ultimately the costs can vary widely.
For example, recent studies suggest that the monthly cost of assisted living in Dallas averages around $3,000.00 per month. Cities like Jackson, Mississippi, which are a bit less populated, can offer great care for under $2,000.00 per month in some cases. And on the other end of the scale, east coast cities in Massachusetts or Connecticut can cost $5,000.00 – and sometimes a bit more – usually on a monthly basis.
Location has such a profound effect on costs that full service nursing homes in Louisiana, for example, are quite cost competitive with the lesser care offered in assisted living facilities situated in New Hampshire or Maine. Nursing home aid in Louisiana averages less than $50,000.00 per year, compared to nearly $60,000.00 for senior living care in some of the states along the East Coast. By contrast, nursing home care in Alaska can cost upwards of a quarter million dollars over the course of a year!
While location may be one of the largest influences when it comes to cost variances, the level of available care is at least as important.Depending on what the senior wants, help with anything from getting dressed in the morning to exercise at any given point during the day is offered, generally for a fee.With a bit of due dilegence you can compare costs of assisted living in your local area and find the care your loved one needs at an affordable price.
