What’s the difference between Independent Living and Assisted Living?

Independent Living is a service that offers an array of amenities and opportunities — all to maximize the joys of your daily life while you live as freely as any healthy adult. Assisted Living or Residential Living is a level of care that provides many kinds of personal assistance — along with an array of amenities and opportunities — so you can live as freely as possible.

The difference is independence on your own vs. independence with assistance.

Independent Living maximizes independence. Seniors aged 62 and older choose it when they want to step away from homeownership and turn their full attention to leisure, family, friends, travel, hobbies and, in general, living it up. They’re fit and healthy enough to do whatever they wish, and they appreciate how the Independent Living lifestyle greets them with concierge-like attention to their needs and desires.

A chef-inspired dining program serves healthy cuisine in a socialization-ready, community dining room — augmenting meals residents prepare themselves in their fully equipped kitchens. And there’s a fitness center, classes, outings, educational and recreational programs — plus, plenty of time and space for friends to share.

Residents are free to come and go as they please, and they eagerly take advantage of that. And while some prefer a quiet life in their comfortable Independent Living residence, most appreciate the active life outside their door, where they share adventures with other residents.

Assisted Living: We’ll give you a hand so you’re good to go!

Assisted Living empowers independence. Seniors turn to Assisted Living when they’re as purposeful and eager as Independent Living residents, but they’ve run into limitations. Give them a helping hand, though, and they’re ready for an independent lifestyle to rival that of their Independent Living friends.

The range of slight-to-greater assistance in Assisted Living is broad and always focused on what a resident can do rather than what they can’t — and then empowering them to be independent. Consequently, Assisted Living residents are also free to come and go as they wish and pursue their interests to their heart’s content.

What’s in Assisted Living that’s not in Independent Living?

Three meals daily.

Chef-inspired dining served for breakfast, lunch and dinner ensures good nutrition for Assisted Living residents. Independent Living usually offers a meal plan that assumes residents will take responsibility for some of their own meals — breakfast and lunch, for example, with dinner in the dining room on the community meal plan. But with three meals included every day in Assisted Living, residents are freed from cooking tasks and can rely on the microwave and refrigerator in their apartments’ kitchenettes for occasional snacks.

Assistance with the ADLs.

The fundamental functional skills required for independence are called ADLs, or the Activities of Daily Living. Basic ADLs include ambulation, feeding, dressing, personal hygiene, continence and toileting. IADLs, or Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, rely on organizational skills and more complex thinking — such as, transportation and shopping, financial management, shopping and meal preparation, housecleaning and home maintenance, communication, and medication management. When a person’s ability to accomplish any of these activities impedes their access to independence, Assisted Living team members intervene to help.

Maintain your independence.

As long as you’re able, the Independent Living lifestyle provides exceptional opportunities for living on your own terms. And when assistance with daily activities enables you to overcome limits and stay focused on your independence, the Assisted Living lifestyle can help you stay right where you want to be: good to go!