My sister insists that her husband should stay in an assisted living place but she has been told to move him by the administrator to a nursing facility. She is planning to put him into another assisted living home. What are the criteria for assisted living home care vs. nursing home care?
To add to the post I wrote earlier, my Dad had a "Medical Tech" when he lived in Independent Living [the IL was also licensed as Assisted Living] who managed all of his meds. Same when he moved over to Assisted Living/Memory Care. Also in his Assisted Living/Memory Care he had a facility Aide who would get him up in the morning, get him showered, dressed and headed him in the right direction to the dining room. Then every hour she would check on him and ask if he needed any help. She had a way of getting Dad to use the bathroom while she was there even if he said no. Then at night, she would come in and get Dad ready for bed.
Then there is Assisted Living, which is much smaller quarters. There are Aides to help the resident as needed.
Then there is Memory Care, which is part of Assisted Living but depending on the building, might be on a separate floor. Again, the Aides help as needed. My Dad eventually moved there at the recommendation of the facility as his memory was slipping more and more, and he was a fall risk.
In my area, Nursing home or long-term-care, is where a much higher level of care is needed. Either the patient is bed ridden or has some type of brain damage, or some medical issue that requires a lot of care and higher expertness.
Sometimes a spouse or relative may not see the low point of a patient especially when it comes to memory issues. My Dad was good at "showboating" meaning he kept his mind in tact while I was there visiting. Afterwards, his mind were in the weeds and later in the day he had "sundowning". None of this I knew until I had a monthly meeting with the Staff... it was time to move him to Memory Care.
And one has to take into consideration the cost. If one is self-pay or if one is using Medicaid. Medicaid would prefer a patient to be in a nursing home.