Residential Care Homes: Senior Care in a Home-like Setting

Care homes, also known as adult family homes, board and care homes, residential care or personal care homes offer personalized service to small groups of adults. These residential homes provide lodging, meal services and assistance with daily living activities.

Residential Care Homes: Family Ambiance

Residential care homes offer a smaller, more home-like family setting for seniors. Care homes offer food services and assistance with daily living, but do not typically have a medical professional on-site. Limited, part-time medical care is offered, but it's not a primary focus of this type of senior living community.

Care home residences are typically located in traditional homes and neighborhoods and provide care for fewer patients than assisted living communities. It is uncommon for a care home to offer services for more than 10 seniors; which helps create the more personal, home-style living environment.

Cost of Care Homes

Living in a residential care home is often half the cost of nursing home care, and in some states, it is even more affordable than assisted living care. However, cost can vary depending on the geographical location of the residential care home, as well as the types of services needed. In home care can cost anywhere from $1,500 a month to $4,500 each month; and dementia care can cost even more.

Cost can also vary depending on room privacy. According to Genworth.com, a residential care home typically runs $2,200 a month for a shared bedroom and $3,400 a month for a private bedroom. Most residential care homes have private rooms available for their residents, as well as shared rooms.

Services Offered in Residential Care Homes

Residential care homes offer supervised care, meals, activities and health management. While assisted living communities may offer extensive activities, such as senior aerobics and field trips, a care home is a better fit for someone who needs more individual, home-setting care.

Here are some of the basic services offered in care homes:

• Comfortable private, or semi-private, rooms
• 1-to-3 daily, home cooked meals
• Housekeeping and laundry service
• Medication management
• Social programs and activities
• Transportation to doctor's appointments

Residential Care Home Definitions

The terms "residential care homes," "adult family homes," "board and care homes," and "personal care homes" are terms often used to describe certain communities and/or facilities. These terms may or may not reflect official state requirements concerning licensing,level of care, and/or the services that are provided. We recommend that when considering these communities and/or facilities you request to see their state license and/or contact your state's licensing authority for clarification on license type, level of care, and/or the services that are provided.

Featured Residential Care Home Articles

• Choosing Residential Care Facilities: What to Look For - Get helpful tips on what to look for when touring residential care facilities.
• What to Expect in a Senior Care Home - Get in-depth information on what to expect in a care home setting, from level-of-care to how they're different from other senior living options.
• State Differences in Residential Care Services - Learn how residential care services, staff-to-patient ratios, costs and legal standards differ by state.