Assisted living facilities became popular in the 1990's and are now the fastest growing level of long term care for seniors in the United States. The assisted living facilities in the Washington DC area bridge the gap between independent living and nursing home care. The many names for assisted living include board and care, residential care for the elderly, retirement home, adult congregate-living community and congregate-care retirement. Each state has its own licensing requirements and regulations to define assisted living and there is a considerable variation. This can make choosing assisted living more complicated than choosing nursing homes, which are federally regulated and standardized.
Licensing requirements for assisted living facilities in Washington DC are simple to obtain. A licensure application package accompanied by a certificate of occupancy, a food handler's certificate, staff health certifications, current insurance verification, the structure of your organization highlighting all board members and officers and three letters of reference are needed to began the process of getting you certified. An inspector conducts unannounced on-site inspections to ensure continued compliance with all regulations, per Washington DC code.
Assisted living facilities in Washington DC may be small, homelike buildings with as few as six residents or they can be large multi-floor facilities with hundreds of residents. While some offer no hands on care, others offer twenty four hour care, including help with bathing, dressing, and grooming and medication management. Although the average resident in assisted living requires access to health care twenty four hours a day, they do not need twenty four hour hands-on care. Since these facilities differ widely in their ability to provide continuing care, there is variation in pricing, staffing, services and admission policies. Some facilities will accept wheelchairs, while others permit only walkers.
As resident's physical or cognitive abilities decline, options in assisted living within Washington DC become limited. For example, fire safety regulations often do not allow residents to remain at this level of care if they cannot independently remove themselves from physical danger.
The design and furnishings in assisted living can be more residential than institutional. Decorating rooms with your own furnishings, residents personalize living space as much as possible. Services usually include meals, housekeeping, social activities, transportation, and an emergency call system. Other services, such as medication management, salon hair care or manicures are purchased a la carte, as needed by the resident.
