Senior Living Knowledge Center

Trusted guidance for every step of the senior living journey.

Explore Resources

Navigating senior living options can bring up many questions, and we’re here to help provide the answers. Here, we provide helpful information, answers to common questions, and explanations of frequently used terms to support you on your journey. We want you to feel informed and confident every step of the way.

Understanding Senior Living

Explore guides and articles designed to educate, empower, and help you make informed decisions.

Imagine Life in Our Assisted Living Spaces

Navigating senior living options can sometimes feel like learning a new language. Here are simple explanations for some common terms, grouped by category:

  • Assisted Living: A type of senior living experience that offers housing, meals, and support services, including help with ADLs and medication management, in a home-like setting. It balances independence with available care.
  • Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC): (New Term) A community offering multiple levels of care (like independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing) on one campus, allowing residents to transition between levels as their needs change.
  • Long-Term Care (LTC): A general term for ongoing care services needed by people who have chronic health conditions or disabilities. This can include assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing care.
  • Memory Care: Specialized care provided in a secure environment for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. It focuses on safety, engagement, and therapies tailored to cognitive needs. (See our Serenity Memory Care program!)
  • Respite Care or Short-Term Stays: Short-term stays offered by senior living communities, providing temporary care for an individual while their regular caregiver takes a break or recovers themselves. It can also be a way to try out community living.
  • Skilled Nursing Care: A higher level of medical care provided by licensed nurses (RNs or LPNs), including wound care, IV therapy, injections, and complex medical monitoring. Often provided in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) or rehabilitation center.
  • Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Everyday personal tasks, such as bathing, dressing, eating, walking (transferring), and using the restroom (toileting). Assessing ADLs helps determine the level of support a person might need.
  • Aging in Place: The ability for a senior to continue living in their chosen residence (whether their own home or a senior living apartment) even as their care needs increase, receiving additional services there rather than moving to a higher level of care setting.
  • Caregiver: Anyone who provides care and support to another person, whether it’s a family member, friend, or professional.
  • Continuum of Care: A comprehensive range of health and support services available to meet the changing needs of individuals over time, often within a single organization or community.
  • Occupational Therapy (OT): Therapy focused on helping people regain skills needed for daily living and working, such as dressing, cooking, or managing household tasks after an illness or injury.
  • Person-Centered Care: An approach to care that focuses on the individual’s preferences, values, and needs, ensuring they are actively involved in decisions about their own care and daily life.
  • Physical Therapy (PT): Therapy focused on improving movement, strength, balance, and mobility, often after surgery, illness, or injury.
  • Rehabilitation: Services like physical, occupational, or speech therapy designed to help someone recover abilities after an illness, injury, or surgery.
  • Speech Therapy: Therapy focused on helping people recover or improve communication skills (speaking, understanding) and swallowing function, often after a stroke or neurological condition.
  • Long-Term Care Insurance: Private insurance designed specifically to help cover the costs of long-term care services, which are often not covered by regular health insurance or Medicare.
  • Medicaid: A joint federal and state government program that helps cover healthcare costs for people with limited income and resources. Eligibility rules vary by state.
  • Medicare: A federal health insurance program primarily for people aged 65 and older, and for some younger people with disabilities. It generally covers hospital stays (Part A), doctor visits (Part B), and prescription drugs (Part D), but typically does not cover long-term custodial care in assisted living.

Supporting Your Family Every Step of the Way

Choosing the right care for yourself or a loved one can feel overwhelming, but you’re not alone. At Laurelhurst, we’re here to answer your questions and provide support as you explore options for a healthier, more fulfilling life.

Where to Find Us

Contact Us