Senior care isn’t a single type of care.

In fact, it represents an entire spectrum of options for seniors.  From community-based or in-home services designed to help seniors age in place – to lifestyle-focused communities that provide older people an easier-going, worry-free retirement  – to nursing and memory care for elderly people who can no longer safely provide for themselves.

Many retirement communities today, like Episcopal Retirement Services’ Deupree House and Marjorie P. Lee centers in Cincinnati’s Hyde Park neighborhood and Episcopal Church Home in Louisville, Ky., are continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), providing services along the entire continuum of care that a senior might need as he or she ages.

We want to take a moment to walk you through each level of care so that you’ll understand what each entails when searching for the right care for yourself or your older loved one.

Welcome to Senior Care 101!

Let’s start with the most basic care we provide:

Home-Based Services

You’re recovering from illness, injury, or surgery and need ongoing nursing and physical therapy as you continue to heal.

You can live safely on your own, but you don’t drive anymore, have difficulty finding reliable transportation, and need the extra nutritional support afforded by meal and grocery delivery.

Or, you’re aging at home but have a complex medical or prescription regimen to follow. You need a little extra help keeping all your appointments, medication refills, insurance requirements, and hospital billing sorted out.

These are all services we provide or can help you to connect with.

When our patients lead our Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community’s short-term physical rehabilitation area to go home, for example, our case managers work with them, their family caregivers, and the Council on Aging for Southwest Ohio to arrange prompt follow-up care from in-home nurses and/or licensed physical, occupational, or another therapists.

Our Deupree Meals On Wheels service brings meals and groceries to (and performs critical wellness checks on) thousands of seniors living on Cincinnati’s east side.

And our Living Well Senior Solutions case managers along with our home health care partners help older people receive the care and services they need to age safely in place.

Independent Living

Some retirees want to worry less.

They don’t want to mow their lawns, stay up on their home’s maintenance, or keep up with the cleaning. They don’t want to pay property taxes or track all their monthly utility bills anymore.

Maybe they still drive but are ready to downsize out of their current homes and live in a townhome or senior apartment community, where they can meet and socialize with people their own age.

Maybe they don’t drive anymore and want to live in a community offering complimentary transportation to and from shopping areas, medical appointments, group outings, and entertainment destinations.

That’s what independent living in a premier retirement community like Deupree House or Louisville’s Episcopal Church Home is like. It’s not senior care, per se — it’s more like a bit of well-deserved, affordable pampering.

Assisted Living

Assisted living is for seniors who can function more or less independently but who would benefit from support services like daily laundry, help with cooking and cleaning, mobility or dressing assistance, etcetera.

At some CCRCs, a move from independent living to assisted living might require a move to a different neighborhood, building, or wing within the community. But, here at ERS, many of our services can be provided to seniors in their current suites or apartments, necessitating no move at all with our Enhanced Living levels that bring services to a resident’s current settting.

Skilled Nursing and Memory Care

These levels of care are for CCRC residents who can no longer live without close support. They may need feeding assistance, continuous medical monitoring, medication administration, bathing and hygiene support, and full mobility support.

Skilled nursing and assisted living memory care in an ERS community like Deupree Cottages represent the highest levels on our senior care continuum.

Although residents of our skilled nursing and memory support communities are often very ill or frail, they receive the person-centered, safe, and dignified care they need to realize enriched, fulfilled lives for the remainder of their years.

Would you or your older loved one benefit from living in an ERS community?

Whatever your family’s need, we can help you find the level of care to meet it.

Talk with your family about your care wishes. Then, click here to contact us with your questions, request more information, or arrange your tour of one of our outstanding Tristate continuing care retirement communities.

You deserve person-centered, dignified senior care. You deserve Episcopal Retirement Services.