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What Happens If Your Needs Change After Moving Into Independent Living

You’ve made the decision to downsize and move into independent living. Yet, you may still have questions about future care needs, such as, “What happens if I need more help someday? Will I have to move again?” 

What is a continuum of care, and what happens when residents need more help? 

As we age, our needs change. A fall, a surgery, or just getting more tired than usual can mean someone needs some extra support. At Charlesgate, that doesn’t always mean starting over somewhere new. 

Our community offers a continuum of care, which is a range of services and support that help older adults age in place. As someone’s needs change, their community can support them. No need to find somewhere else to go. 

Our partnership with Pinnacle Home Health  

Pinnacle Home Health provides healthcare services to patients in their own home. They offer support such as registered nurses, physical therapy, occupational therapy, wound care, medication management, and more. Our partnership with Pinnacle means that residents in our community can get the healthcare help they need right in their own apartment at Charlesgate. 

A resident recovering from a hospital stay might get help with medication or physical therapy without leaving their apartment, meaning they can recover where they’re most comfortable. A resident who needs wound care can be helped in the comfort of their own couch. (The cost of these services is not included in the resident’s rent.) 

What happens when daily living needs change? 

Sometimes a resident’s needs go beyond what home health can provide. When that happens, a move to assisted living or nursing care might make sense. 

That doesn’t mean that residents have to leave Charlesgate. A move from independent living to assisted living at Charlesgate happens within a community the resident already knows. No need to go through the process of finding somewhere new or leaving the people, the community, and the daily life that they know.  

A resident moving from an independent living apartment into assisted living doesn’t have to learn a new campus, meet an entirely new team, or explain his history to strangers. They move into a building they’ve already visited and are cared for by an organization that already knows them. 

Charlesgate’s continuum of care has been helping residents for almost 50 years 

Charlesgate has run this kind of continuum of care in Providence for almost 50 years. In 2001, we became one of the first providers of affordable assisted living in Rhode Island, and our campus includes one of the state’s first Alzheimer’s memory care units. Our continuum of care has helped many residents feel at home in Providence. 

Questions to ask when touring a senior living community 

The best time to ask about a continuum of care is before you need it. Here are a few questions you can ask to get a feel for how a community cares for its residents. 

• What services are available to me in independent living? What are the associated costs? 

• What happens if my healthcare needs change?  

• What happens if I need some level of support with activities of daily living (dressing, cooking, cleaning, etc.) in the future?  

• Do you have long–term residents who have moved from independent to assisted living? 

• What does the process look like if I ever need to move to assisted living or nursing care? 

• Who coordinates my care if more than one service is involved? 

Needing a new level of support doesn’t always mean starting over. At Charlesgate, some care can come to you in your own apartment. If more support is ever needed, it stays within a community and team you already know. 

If you have questions about what this looks like for your situation, reach out to us.