What is an Adult Family Home?

As older adults transition into later years, many find themselves recovering in a nursing home after a hospital stay. Most families and loved ones are not prepared for the transitional or extended care that may be required to keep a loved one safe and medically stable.  Medicare does not pay for "custodial care" , or care that no longer requires the skills and services that are available in a nursing home or rehab center such as physical therapy or skilled nursing care. A more recent development in Washington State is the concept of an adult family home.

An adult family home is a home in a residential setting licensed by the state of Washington and Dept of Social and Health Services (DSHS). These homes are licensed for up to 6 residents. Adult family homes provide a safe, healthy alternative choice in providing older adults with options other than nursing homes. Quality of life, choice, resident preference and safeguards are key components of the adult family home experience.

Adult family home providers must provide  through an extensive licensing process the competency and care given by their staff. They are supported by DSHS mandated training  and yearly ongoing continuing education. In addition to the basic licensing components, speciality training is required by staff for the adult family home to provide care for residents with the following needs: Dementia, Mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disease, and Development disabilties.

The selection of Adult family homes has grown over the past few years. The task of sorting out which home can be daunting and overwhelming. The adult family home provides a setting of homelike atmosphere, often including the features of a regular family home setting , like family type meals, homey areas for visiting, gardens, and quiet private spaces. These setting vary from simple to very beautiful and expansive homes. It is important to note that selection of a good adult family home should not be based on the decadence of the setting. Some of these homes are run by licensed nursing assistants-CNA's, LPN, and RN's. Some of the nurses actually live in their homes and are active participants in the resident care and oversight of care needs. Many good quality adult family homes are not run by nurses but are managed by certified nursing assistants, and have learned the business. These homes still require a nurse oversight of them to deliver certain types of care.

What is the cost? A well run family home will run usually 30-50% less than a traditional nursing home, with usually better, or comparable type care. Adult family homes may be able to provide an older adult with options to living in an institutional type setting.