Radius Care Define the Difference Between Retirement Village Living and Aged Care

The main difference between retirement village residents and aged care residents is that the former live independently, while residential aged care residents require daily assistance with personal care. Retirement villages are residential, multi-unit complexes designed for people aged 55 years or older that also offer a range of health, leisure and support services. Retirement villages offer independent and assisted living options where residents enjoy privacy and freedom in their own home, with the option of additional care should they choose to request it.

Rest homes, on the other hand, offer a very specific and important service: care for those who are no longer in a position to solely care for themselves. To be eligible to move into a New Zealand rest home, you must first be assessed by the district health board (DHB). Your DHB assessor will evaluate how much help you need in your daily life and make a decision on your eligibility for rest home care (also known as residential care). This is very different to the process of moving into a retirement village, which is similar to buying any other residential property.

For many residents, the decision to move into a retirement village is for companionship, to have more time for themselves without the hassle of maintenance and upkeep of a property. Residents retain their freedom and independence with the knowledge that support is available if required. Many retirement villages have rest home facilities on-site or nearby, which may be a source of confusion, as it’s very common for a retirement village and a rest home to share the same address, but they are two very different services.

There’s a huge difference between someone living in an independent, fully self-contained unit or apartment within a retirement village, and someone living in a room in a rest home receiving around-the-clock medical care. The Commission for Financial Capability (CFFC) provides a useful definition to distinguish retirement villages from rest homes.

Many retirement villages have care facilities co-located on their sites which might include rest home level care, hospital level care or dementia level care. Rest homes are separate operations from retirement villages and subject to different legislative requirements, so for more information on elderly assistance, rest homes Waikato and aged care Auckland please go to http://radiuscare.co.nz .