Compare Your Senior
Living Options
Assisted living vs. nursing home. Home care vs. senior apartments. There are a lot of choices out there. Generally, they fall into options you’re probably aware of: assisted living, senior apartments, nursing homes and respite care. How do they differ? We’ve created this chart to help you understand what option is right for your situation.
Family Involvement
We keep families involved and in the loop. You can always check in with our staff, or enjoy:
- Quarterly Care Connection meetings
- Weekly community updates
- Full-time access to our staff for questions and concerns
Senior apartments don’t typically keep families updated on their residents. It’s up to the resident to keep loved ones informed.
Staff members are available at assisted living communities to answer questions, but ongoing consistent communication with families is rare.
Some nursing homes offer things like newsletters, but nothing nearly as robust as what families receive from BrightStar.
Respite care options rarely offer community updates, and typically don’t keep families updated on the community’s weekly highlights.
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On-Site Medical CareAt BrightStar, our Director of Health & Wellness and the specially trained staff help residents with everyday healthcare needs, from simple medical management to the most complex care.
- RN Oversight
- Professional Caregivers
- Medication administration
- Mobility assistance
- Diabetes management
- Coordination of Care with Therapies, Hospice and more
- And more
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Personalized RoutinesFeeling your best and feeling like yourself go hand in hand. At BrightStar, you’ll experience:
- On-site salon
- Open and organized social time
- Group outings
- Meal and dining choices
Carefully crafted personalized routines are not typically offered at senior apartments, and they are up to the resident to plan.
Assisted living facilities provide more daily options for residents like organized social time and group outings, but they lack the variety of every day choices.
Nursing homes often provide daily programming for residents but their services and meals offered on-site vary from community to community.
While organized social time is scheduled weekly in respite care communities, outings are rare.
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Specialized Memory CareWe know what a difference specialized memory care can make for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or another memory issue. That’s why we offer:
- Memory-focused programming and exercises
- Professional caregivers with specialized dementia training
- 24/7 care staff
- RN Oversight
- Medication administration
If you desire any kind of memory care service or specialized memory care programming, you won’t find this type of skilled care at a senior apartment.
The memory care services offered at an assisted living facility vary from community to community, but all BrightStar Senior Living communities guarantee specialized memory care.
Most nursing homes will accommodate residents with memory issues, but are not set up to provide the personalized care regimens that are provided at BrightStar.
Respite care options typically offer 24/7 care and medication management and will occasionally offer memory-focused programming and exercises from a skilled nursing staff.
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Is BrightStar Senior Living the Right Decision for You?
With the information above, input from family and friends you trust, your primary care doctor and medical team, you’ll find what you need from your senior living community. We believe that BrightStar Senior Living® is the right choice when daily activities become a challenge and distract from everyday life, when medical, diet and exercise needs are just too much, or when memory care issues take away from daily quality of life and sense of security.
All residents benefit from what makes BrightStar Senior Living so unique among your options. Our thoughtful BrightStar Connections program. Tailor-made experiences. Delicious and healthy dining options.
And they’re all wrapped around the Five Promise Words that drive us every day: Joy, Dignity, Beauty, Connection and Individuality.
Smart Questions to Compare Senior Living Options
- What is your direct care staff-to-resident and manager-to-resident ratios?
- What experience and training are your staff required to have?
- Who is conducting the initial assessment and creating a plan of care?
- What types of suites are available?
- What staff is on duty overnight?
- Can staff administer medications?
- Tell me about your nurse availability? Is a nurse on-site? If so, how many hours per week?
- What is your experience with residents requiring complex care?
- Tell me about some of the current residents.
- What are the special programs you offer for life enrichment activities?
- What additional services are available if the needs of a resident change?
- Can you accommodate special dietary needs? Will you allow my loved one to eat in the dining room if they need feeding assistance?
- Are there things that may prevent my loved one from being considered for admission?
- What are your discharge criteria?
See Life at BrightStar Senior Living
