Caring for an aging parent is one of the most meaningful, yet difficult, decisions you’ll ever make. Should they stay at home with assistance or move into an assisted living facility? Both options have benefits, but the right choice depends on your loved one’s needs, preferences, and finances.
We understand the importance of geriatric care management here at Firefly Home Care, as well as the circumstances that can lead to its necessity. That’s why we work with only experts to deliver these services.
Here, we discuss a popular conversation: assisted living vs. in-home care. We will cover all the decisive factors between the two senior care services to help you decide which will be best for the senior citizen you are taking care of.
Most importantly, we will look at the cost of assisted living vs in-home care to help you with the financial information to assist your decision. Let’s begin.
What is Assisted Living?
Assisted living involves residential care for seniors who require constant monitoring or need assistance with activities of daily living.
The care provided by assisted living is round-the-clock and delivered by standby caregivers who tend to your personal needs. These are mostly non-medical needs, and this is where assisted living differs from nursing homes.
What is In-Home Care?
In-home care involves support and assistance with activities of daily living for elders within the comfort of their homes.
The care is provided by caregivers or personal aides and you can ration the amount of time based on hours in a day. There is no medical assistance given in this type of care option. However, if medical assistance is required at home, you should opt for home health care instead.
Cost Of Assisted Living vs In-Home Care
When it comes to the cost of assisted living vs in-home care, we talk about a range because costs differ per state, and sometimes per region within the states. To come to a more representative value, we’ll use the median rates of all the states as presented in the Genworth Cost of Care Survey of 2024.
Assisted living is a 24/7 coverage, so every care and monitoring is put into consideration. The median monthly rate of assisted living is around $5,900. This could go up to as much as $1,000 higher for seniors who need advanced care e.g. Those living with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
In-home care, on the other hand, isn’t that straightforward. It can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the length of time the care is needed. For example, our in-home care management service takes an hourly pay of $35 per hour and you can state the hours you need in a day up to the whole day.
Generally, the median monthly rate for in-home care in the United States depends on the hours involved. It costs between $5,720 to $5,894 for those who receive only 8 hours of care daily on weekdays. However, full-time in-home care costs significantly more than assisted living, ranging close to $25,000 monthly for 24/7 service.
The prices seem direct, but not quite. You should remember that assisted living reduces your access to these loved ones and also that in-home care requires additional expenses in the form of house bills. Cost aside, there are many factors that drive the decision between putting your elderly ones in assisted living or allowing them to receive their support within the home.
Deciding Between Assisted Living and In-Home Care
Looking beyond the cost of assisted living vs in-home care, your decision may lie elsewhere. Here are other things to consider before making the choice of which care option to go for.
- Location
How close do you want your loved ones to be? How often do you want to see them? These aren’t questions that you only ask yourself but you have to ask the person involved too.
Studies show that seniors in assisted living are better monitored and kept in a structured environment for someone their age. This keeps them in tune with reality and helps them thrive.
On the other hand, studies have also shown that most senior citizens prefer being close to the community they recognize and this helps them stay in a more comfortable mood and sharpens their memory, which is quite important for those living with conditions like dementia.
There’s no better place to be, so the decision lies in where you want them to be and where you can convince them to be.
- Community
Taking a cue from the location differences between assisted living and in-home care, there’s also the decision of who they should have around them.
Assisted living provides a real sense of relative community. The seniors are surrounded by people their age, and they participate in fun activities, play fun sit-down games, and reminisce about the good old days.
However, in-home care offers the continuous presence of family, neighbors, and people who have always meant more to these seniors. This in itself can give them a sense of fulfillment seeing their kids, grandkids, and people they spent their lives with pushing on.
- Type of Care
The question of the type of care needed has to be asked before deciding on a care option. However, it isn’t entirely significant in the case of assisted living vs in-home care. This is because both offer similar types of care.
Both assisted living and in-home care offer support and personal assistance to seniors with their activities of daily living. Some people describe a difference being that assisted living gives a little hand in medical monitoring. That depends on the care home. At Firefly, our in-home caregivers also assist in medical monitoring such as exercise and medication reminders.
- Insurance Coverage
Assisted living and in-home care share another similarity when it comes to insurance coverage. Seeing as they are largely both non-medical care options, they have limited chances of insurance coverage.
While Medicare does not typically cover non-medical services like assisted living or in-home care, Medicaid waivers in some states may provide partial coverage. Additionally, veterans and their spouses may qualify for VA Aid & Attendance benefits. Long-term care insurance policies, personal savings, and life insurance conversions are other options families explore to cover costs.
Conclusion
The cost of assisted living vs in-home care is fairly similar if in-home care is only needed part-time. Deciding between assisted living and in-home care involves more than the costs.
You have to take into consideration other factors such as preferred location, community presence, and type of care required. If medical assistance is required, neither option may be suitable, and a more specialized level of care should be considered.
At Firefly Home Care, we provide compassionate, professional support to families in Warsaw, Granger, Syracuse, and other nearby Indiana communities. Whether you’re exploring in-home care, geriatric care management, or other senior care solutions, we’re here to help. Visit our services page to find the best fit for your loved one’s needs. Let’s ensure they receive the care, comfort, and dignity they deserve.
