Continuing Care Retirement Facilities: Understanding Services, Contracts, and More

Age isn't just a number. It's instead a series of changes, with individuals constantly transitioning through different physical and emotional states. Every year seems to bring a new form of well-being - some good and some bad - and adapting to those forms often proves challenging.

Challenges with change are the reason so many are now turning to Continuing Care Retirement (CCR) facilities. These community-centric options deliver personalized attention throughout each stage of a patient's life. They stress long-term healing, comfort, and support.

What are Continuing Care Retirement Facilities?

Continuing Care Retirement facilities - also known as Lifetime Communities or Adult Active Communities - combine the ease of independent living with the necessity of nursing assistance. These are single-campus organizations, composed of town homes, condominiums, or apartments. Within these dwellings, seniors may plan the rest of their lives.

The purpose of CCR facilities is to allow individuals to remain at home (and in control) during their golden years. Residents live independently, with their needs addressed through a variety of services, including:

• Meal Planning and Preparation
• Transportation
• Housekeeping
• Lawn Maintenance
• Shopping Assistance
• Pet Care Assistance
• Medication Monitoring
• Grooming Assistance ... and more

Through customized services, CCR facilities allow residents to age in place.

What is Aging in Place?

Time changes everything, delivering a series of worrisome symptoms to combat. These symptoms once forced seniors to shuffle from community to community, always leaving their homes behind in the wake of an illness. CCR facilities spare them this frustration, though.

These facilities embrace an age in place philosophy - delivering independent, assisted, and nursing options for every resident.

Independent Living

Those arriving at CCR facilities will, most likely, be in good health and good cheer. Independent living will, therefore, prove ideal, connecting them to private homes, custom amenities, and active social calendars. This stage is for those who are able-bodied and eager to begin the next phase of their lives.

Assisted Living

Should residents begin to struggle with everyday activities - such as personal grooming or housework - they may then need assistance. Unlike traditional retirement communities, which require individuals to move away, CCR facilities have contingencies ready for such events. Medical staffers are on-site and able to provide the necessary support.

Nursing Homes

Should an illness develop beyond the scope of assisted living (requiring full-time medical monitoring and qualified care), CCR residents will have to move - but only to another part of the community campus. These facilities provide comprehensive nursing care, addressing both physical and mental disabilities.

Through these three distinct options, CCR communities provide seniors with a rare comfort: the ability to remain in familiar surroundings, even after experiencing debilitating illnesses. This promotes better well-being for all.

Who Most Utilizes Continuing Care Facilities?

Continuing Care Retirement facilities promise sterling service. According to a report published the American Seniors Housing Association, they also promise distinct trends. Demographic patterns have appeared throughout the last decade, highlighting the traits of the typical CCR resident:

Age Demographics

Age: 77 and Younger
Men: 29%
Women: 71%

Age: 78 to 82
Men: 27%
Women: 73%

Age: 83 to 87
Men: 36%
Women: 64%

Age: 88 and Older
Men: 42%
Women: 58%

Marital Status Demographics

Separated: 1%
Single, Never Married: 4%
Divorced: 6%
Married: 35%
Widowed: 54%

Educational Demographics

Grade School or Less: 1%
Some High School: 4%
High School Graduate or GED Recipient: 23%
Some College: 27%
College Graduate: 26%
Graduate or Professional Degree: 19%

Annual Income Demographics

Less Than $10,000: 3%
$10,000 to $14,999: 5%
$15,000 to $19,999: 7%
$20,000 to $24,999: 6%
$25,000 to $29,000: 6%
$30,000 to 34,999: 10%
$35,000 to $49,999: 17%
$50,000 to $74,999: 22%
$100,000 to $149,000: 9%
$150,000 to $199,999: 2%
$200,000 or More: 3%

These statistics showcase that most CCR residents are female, married, well-educated, and within an upper middle-class bracket. It stands to reason that individuals pay close attention to the income trends, as earnings highlight the costs associated with this form of community.

What is the Cost of Continuing Care Retirement Facilities?

CCR facilities deliver a variety of services, amenities, and health care options that are defined by adaptability. Because of this, it's impossible to create a national average of cost. Each campus is unique, offering different fees, financial packages, and terms. These allow for infinite tailoring.

To better gauge the expense of CCR living, however, seniors can consider the three most common contract options:

Extensive Contracts

Extensive Contracts provide high-quality medical attention throughout a senior's remaining years. They demand considerable initial costs but then balance this by paying for all assisted living and nursing home needs. It's a guaranteed level of care.

Summation: High initial costs, small future risks.

Modified Contracts

Modified Contracts allow seniors to pay reasonable initial fees and then supplement their living expenses through monthly stipends. These stipends - which range in cost, depending on chosen amenities and services - also provide limited (free) access to assisted and nursing facilities. Residents receive no-fee coverage for a predetermined length of time, but must then pay out-of-pocket once that time has passed.

Summation: Medium initial costs, medium future risk.

Fee for Service Contracts

Fee for Services Contracts is aptly named. These options allow residents to pay moderate entrance fees, relying instead on monthly stipends to address their service needs. Should they require health care, the burden falls exclusively to them.

Summation: Low initial costs, high future risks.

Each of these contracts delivers its own advantages and concerns. It's crucial, therefore, for seniors to examine their finances. They must understand what they can afford for both the present and the future, and then they must choose the option that best reflects this. Plan carefully.

The Value of Continuing Care Retirement Facilities

The human body is forever in a state of change. CRR facilities accommodate those changes, providing seniors with the control (and comfort) they deserve. These single-campus options are ideal for those wishing to remain at home, delivering independent living and superior medical care.