Self-determined living, even if extensive care is needed

Living and house communities for people needing long-term care

Assisted living and house communities permit a high degree of everyday normality and self-determination, even in cases of a severe need for long-term care. As a rule, between six and twelve people live in an assisted living community. The residents’ own rooms or apartments are fitted out with their own furniture, while the living kitchen and the sanitary facilities are shared. Caregivers and nursing personnel are in attendance round the clock, if necessary, and organise the household for the whole group. The nursing services are provided by nursing professionals and tailored to individual needs.

This form of housing offers an alternative to a nursing home, even for people with an extreme need for assistance and long-term care. The daily rhythm is defined not by the care, but by normal activities, as customary in any other household. The residents themselves decide on how to divide up their time, the meals, the furnishings, and who they get additional assistance from. The staff can devote themselves to the residents, and cater to their needs, more intensively than would be possible in a nursing home.

However, the situation is the same as when sharing a normal home: the residents live together intensively and closely with other people and have to be willing to make compromises time after time when it comes to organising daily life. In contrast to large residential facilities, there is no extensive offer of leisure activities. The residents and their relatives bear the responsibility for services and care. Under certain circumstances, only the lower long-term care insurance rates for outpatient care may be available to them for financing the services. There are often also issues regarding legal classification, making it recommendable to contact the responsible residential home authority for advice in good time.