People often use the term “nursing home” to mean any place where elderly people live, but that’s not an accurate description. This article will explain these terms more thoroughly.
A nursing home is a medical facility where elderly people who need the availability of 24-hour care live. The facility offers full-time access to trained medical professionals, like registered nurses, as well as access to all manner of professional services, like lawyers and clothes cleaning. A nursing home will provide all the help someone needs day to day, including meals, housekeeping, transportation, and more.
Assisted living is a situation where seniors have their own apartment (or similar living space) and can use professional services (like laundry, meals, transportation, etc.) but do not require the care level of a nursing home.
Within an assisted living facility there is more self-sufficiency and less medical support than is available at a nursing home.
Typical nursing home residents are 85 and over and often utilize Medicaid or some sort of government assistance program.
In short, a nursing home is more like a hospital and an assisted living is more like living in an apartment but with help.