Senior residences, ranging from single-family homes that serve a handful of people in private or shared bedrooms to large communities for a hundred or more elders living in their own apartments or studios. There's a variety of services for older adults who are either too frail to care completely for themselves or who would rather not live in their own homes. These usually include meals in a communal dining room, transportation to doctors' appointments and shopping, regular laundry service and housekeeping, and social activities. In addition, the staff may offer assistance with dressing, bathing, and walking, as well as limited health-related services dispensing medications, for example, or reminding residents to take them.
Residents live in apartments with their own kitchens.
Still, some of these communities do include a wing or a floor for people who need special care. Another increasingly popular option somewhere between assisted living and nursing home is board and care. The caregivers usually two per home are health-care aides, as opposed to registered nurses. Ideally, residents feel part of a family, taking their meals in a small dining room and enjoying social activities in a den or living room. Assisted living is the fastest-growing segment of the senior housing market, because people are looking for alternatives to nursing homes.