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Take care,
Carol
AL facilities typically have a base level of care (determined by an thorough checklist of a resident's ability to perform the activities of daily living). If a resident requires more care than that, there are usually 'care levels' available for an additional fee. Caregivers keep track of the care they provide and communicate with families when that care has increased significantly so that, again, families don't get any surprises.
Things like haircuts are rarely included. AL owners try to strike a balance between not being perceived as 'nickel and diming' their residents, but also not having to increase their rates to include more 'basic' services. Logically, a person would want to pay a low base rate and only pay for services that they use beyond that, but psychologically, people tend to like the idea that everything is included (even though that means they are paying for services they aren't using). Oddly, consumer research shows that people tend to think of included services as 'free'.
In the ALs that I am familiar with, families may provide additional services on their own in many instances. For example, you (or someone you choose) can cut your dad's hair, you can buy the wipes. If your AL doesn't include it, you can choose to do the laundry, too. You can often contract your own caregiving, too.
p.s. $3,800 per month would be considered a bargain for AL where I live.
Read Cindi's blog at it is about her visit to a AL facility.
Given the $3800 rate you mentioned, $1000 in rent increases over 5 years is a lot. Did the community change in that time - maybe from 'no-frills' to 'upscale'? In one of the communities I'm familiar with, the rent increase was about $300 over that same time period.
Injected meds usually incur an additional care level because specialized personnel needs to administer them and, with diabetes for example, they require special monitoring.
It's been my experience that being privately owned isn't the factor that determines that you'll be charged more or your rent will increase more frequently.
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