Deciding whether an older adult should remain at home or move into a senior living community can feel overwhelming. Families must consider personal-care needs, mobility, memory, safety, lifestyle preferences, location and cost—often while managing a sudden health change or hospital discharge.
Horizon Care Services helps families understand how private-duty home care may support someone at home. When a move is being considered, Horizon can connect families with Elder Care Finders, our senior living placement-focused sister company, for personalized assisted living, memory care and senior community guidance.
Horizon Care Services is not an assisted living facility and does not make facility admission decisions.
These settings serve different needs. The appropriate option depends on the individual’s abilities, health, cognitive needs, preferences and financial circumstances.
Private-duty home care provides personalized assistance in the client’s existing residence.
Depending on the care plan, assistance may include:
Home care may be appropriate when the client wants to remain at home and the residence can support the level of assistance required.
Learn more about Horizon’s private-duty home care services.
An assisted living facility provides housing, meals and assistance with everyday activities in a residential community.
Services vary according to the facility’s Florida license, staffing, policies and available programs. Depending on the community, services may include:
Assisted living is not appropriate for every person. Each facility establishes admission and continued-residency criteria consistent with its license and policies.
Memory care is designed for people living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia who require a more structured environment and specialized supervision.
Memory-care programs may be located within an assisted living facility or operated as a dedicated community. Families should ask about:
A dementia diagnosis alone does not determine the appropriate setting. The decision should account for the person’s abilities, behaviors, mobility, care requirements and preferences.
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration describes nursing homes as facilities providing 24-hour nursing care along with services such as health monitoring, personal care, meals, case management and rehabilitation.
Some nursing-facility stays are short-term and focused on rehabilitation following an illness, injury or hospitalization. Other residents require long-term nursing and personal care.
A physician, hospital discharge planner or another qualified healthcare professional can help determine whether skilled nursing services are medically necessary.
Florida assisted living facilities must hold a standard assisted living license. Some facilities also hold specialty licenses permitting additional services.
A standard license permits routine personal-care assistance, supervision with activities of daily living and certain medication-related services.
An Extended Congregate Care, or ECC, license allows a facility to provide additional assistance and limited nursing services intended to help eligible residents remain in the community as their needs change.
A Limited Nursing Services, or LNS, license allows a facility to provide specified nursing services through appropriately licensed nurses.
A Limited Mental Health, or LMH, license is required when a facility serves certain residents receiving mental health services and must meet the related program requirements.
A specialty license does not automatically mean the community can accommodate every condition or level of care. Families should confirm that the facility’s license, staffing and admission criteria match the prospective resident’s specific needs.
Review Florida’s official assisted living facility consumer guide for more information.
Assisted living may be worth exploring when someone:
The client’s healthcare team should evaluate medical, cognitive or mobility concerns that may affect the appropriate level of care.
A move is not the only option. Some individuals can continue living at home with an appropriate combination of family involvement, private-duty caregivers, home modifications and outside healthcare services.
Home care may remain practical when:
Horizon Care Services can assess the requested nonclinical assistance and help the family understand whether an appropriate private-duty arrangement may be available.
No home-care schedule can guarantee that falls, emergencies, wandering or changes in condition will be prevented.
When a family decides to explore senior living, Horizon can connect them with Elder Care Finders, a placement-focused sister company serving Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties.
The placement process may include the following steps.
A placement advisor begins by learning about:
Medical assessments and determinations about clinical care must come from qualified healthcare professionals.
The advisor can identify communities that appear to match the family’s stated requirements and current availability.
Recommendations may consider:
The facility remains responsible for assessing the prospective resident and making the admission decision.
A placement advisor may help families schedule and prepare for community tours.
Whenever possible, the prospective resident should participate in the process. During a tour, families should observe more than the model apartment.
Pay attention to:
Consider visiting more than once and at different times of day before making a decision.
Before selecting a community, request written information addressing:
A placement advisor can help families identify questions, but legal interpretation of a residency agreement should come from a qualified Florida attorney.
Once a community has accepted the resident, the family may need help coordinating:
The community remains responsible for its admission requirements and services.
Families should independently verify that a community is licensed and review available regulatory information.
FloridaHealthFinder, operated by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, allows consumers to review:
Use the official Florida assisted living comparison tool before making a final decision.
Inspection records are important, but they are only one part of the evaluation. Families should also tour the community, ask detailed questions and determine whether its services are appropriate for the individual.
Bring a written list so important questions are not forgotten.
Obtain written answers whenever possible.
Assisted living is commonly paid through:
Original Medicare generally does not pay for assisted living room, board or long-term custodial care.
Medicare may continue covering qualifying healthcare services, physician visits, hospital care, prescriptions or other covered benefits received by an eligible person who lives in an assisted living facility. Coverage depends on the specific service and Medicare requirements.
Review Medicare’s long-term care coverage information and verify benefits directly with the appropriate insurer or program administrator.
Horizon Care Services and Elder Care Finders do not determine Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ benefit or insurance eligibility.
Families should understand how any placement company operates before relying on its recommendations.
Ask:
Elder Care Finders states that its placement guidance is offered at no cost to families. Families should still review the service terms and ask how the company is compensated before participating.
Some assisted living residents hire private-duty caregivers for supplemental one-on-one assistance.
When permitted by the community and included in the client’s care plan, Horizon Care Services may provide additional assistance such as:
Supplemental private-duty care does not replace services the assisted living facility is required to provide. All arrangements must comply with facility policies, applicable regulations and the client’s care plan.
No. Assisted living is a residential setting that provides housing and assistance with everyday activities. Nursing homes provide 24-hour nursing care for people whose needs meet the facility’s admission criteria. The services and regulations differ.
Original Medicare generally does not cover assisted living room, board or custodial care. It may cover qualifying medical services received by an eligible resident.
Use FloridaHealthFinder to review the facility’s active license, specialty licenses, inspection reports and available regulatory information.
Yes. Touring several appropriate communities makes it easier to compare services, atmosphere, costs, contracts and how staff interact with residents.
No. An advisor can identify and compare potential options, but the facility performs its own assessment and makes the admission decision. Families remain responsible for their final selection.
No. A physician or another qualified healthcare professional should evaluate medical and skilled-nursing needs.
Horizon Care Services can help your family explore whether an appropriate private-duty home-care arrangement could support the person at home. You can compare that option with assisted living before deciding.
If your family is deciding between care at home and a move to assisted living, Horizon Care Services can help you understand available private-duty home-care options.
Call 561-776-7757 (toll-free 877-227-3890) or contact Horizon Care Services to discuss assistance at home.
For personalized senior living placement guidance, visit Elder Care Finders.
This page provides general information and is not medical, legal, financial or insurance advice. Consult the appropriate licensed professionals before making healthcare, contract, eligibility or financial decisions.
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If you're currently experiencing an emergency situation, it would be best to call 911.
