What is the difference between residential aged care and retirement living? Here’s an overview to help you decide which is best for you or your loved one.
Residential Aged Care vs Retirement Living
Are you considering a move into supported accommodation for yourself or your loved one?
The two main options (beyond using home care services) are retirement villages and residential aged care facilities.
Retirement villages
Retirement villages are often referred to as ‘independent living’ communities. Onsite staff provide limited support, and these communities are a great option for people who are reasonably mobile, and don’t require significant medical attention ór assistance with personal care.
Residential aged care facilities
If you or your loved one would benefit from more comprehensive support with day-to-day needs, residential aged care may be a better option.
Let’s look at the key differences between residential aged care and retirement living.
Accommodation
Retirement Villages
Visit a retirement village and you’ll find a number of homes located on one property, with common areas and a management office on site.
Residents usually live in a self-contained apartment, townhouse or unit, similar to living in an apartment building or unit complex.
Unlike standard strata living though, these complexes have a different structure for pricing and management. Retirement village homes can be more affordable than standard properties but there are caveats involved with buying into them. Management tends to be a great deal more hands-on than a standard strata building.
Modern retirement villages are generally lovely places to live. They offer added features such as medical emergency buttons on the walls, and residents can live independently and privately. Most communities have a calendar of social events residents can attend if they choose to.
Residential Aged Care
Aged care facilities provide more comprehensive day-to-day support for less mobile residents. A residential aged care facility offers private rooms with en-suites or shared rooms, as opposed to self-contained apartments.
Quality aged care facilities also feature common areas and facilities for socialising and lifestyle activities. They offer opportunities for interacting socially, while still providing personal, private spaces for residents to call their own.
Services and facilities
Retirement Villages
The village you buy into may offer:
- Secure underground parking
- Swimming pool and gym
- Common outdoor areas
- Community garden
- Mens’ shed
- Library
- Common sitting areas
- Dining room and restaurant
- On-site cinema
- Guest suites that can be booked for overnight stays
- Hairdressing/beauty salons
When you live in a retirement village, you are responsible for caring for your own home. You can hire a cleaner or request the support of home carers to help with things like groceries and changing bed linen.
Residential Aged Care
Features you can find at residential aged care facilities can include:
- Common outdoor areas
- Facility garden
- Cafe
- Men’s shed
- Library
- Common sitting areas
- Dining room and restaurant
- Cinema room
- Consulting room for visiting medical specialists
- Hairdressing/beauty salons
- Swimming pool
- Bowling green
Residential aged care facilities usually have a staffed kitchen and chef on-site. Healthy meals will be provided and may be eaten in a common area or dining room. There will be shared entertainment areas, and in most cases, televisions in each resident’s room.
Most aged care facilities have outdoor areas to enjoy, and some provide access to a common kitchenette with tea/coffee making facilities.
Services including cleaning, laundry and room maintenance are all taken care of in an aged care home. You don’t need a Home Care Package and won’t need to complete these chores yourself.
Medical care
Retirement Villages
In a retirement village, residents mostly care for themselves. As mentioned, some retirement villages will have emergency buttons on the walls for residents should they fall or require assistance. There will usually be someone at the front desk or security office who can be contacted in the event of an emergency. However, there may not be someone on call 24/7.
Access to medical care can vary significantly between villages. A retirement village that has an aged care facility attached is more likely to have faster access to medical professionals. On the whole, though, in a retirement village, residents are responsible for their own health and wellbeing.
Residential Aged Care
Aged care facilities have on-site trained nursing staff 24 hours a day. Residents are monitored regularly, and their wellbeing is taken care of by the staff. Medication is administered and daily health checks are provided. Aged care facilities also have visits from doctors, podiatrists, ophthalmologists and allied health professionals such as occupational therapists and counsellors. There may even be a doctor’s office on site.
Residents in aged care facilities are there because they need more care and support. This means aged care facilities are set up with health care in mind, and safety as a priority.
Connect with Aged Care Decisions for FREE assistance to find a residential aged care facility that matches your specific needs.
Looking for aged care?
Get a customised list of aged care options
This is how Aged Care Decisions’ FREE aged care matching service works:
Entertainment and activities
Retirement Villages
Regular organised activities like weekly morning teas or commemorative ANZAC Day/Remembrance Day events are a highlight of life in a retirement village.
Many retirement villages have social committees that organise game nights, regular bingo and card game afternoons, bus outings, movie screenings and other types of fun and inclusive social activities.
Residential Aged Care
Most aged care homes offer comprehensive lifestyle programs to encourage residents to remain active, interested and socially connected.
Activities can vary from sing-along nights to excursions, crafts to chair yoga, movie screenings to card games and lots of special events – most have an activities calendar focused on the mental health and wellbeing of residents. Modern aged care facilities put a lot of time and thought into keeping their residents entertained and content.
Access
Retirement Villages
You can expect to come and go in a similar manner to any secure residential complex. There may be ramps and lifts to ensure less-mobile residents and visitors can get around safely. The village may have ‘swipe to enter’ security limiting access between floors or sections, and to the car park.
Residential Aged Care
Aged care facilities are more structured. Many have fixed visiting hours. Residents and guests usually need to check in and out on arrival and when they leave the facility in order to protect the wellbeing of all residents, visitors and staff.
Pets
Retirement Villages
Like any private residential complex, pet ownership is at the discretion of the management. Generally, if the residents own their apartment or unit, they can keep a small dog or a cat. As with every strata complex, there will be by-laws about pet ownership.
Residential Aged Care
Most residential aged care do not allow pets, however in some cases, an animal may be accepted. Support animals, for instance, might be deemed necessary. Some facilities will allow pets to visit, and some resident ‘community pets’ that live on-site.
Applicable fees
Retirement Villages
Retirement villages come in many formats, and so do their fees. In some cases, the residents can build their own homes on the grounds. In others, residents are essentially renting their apartment or unit from the village management.
There may be an initial purchase cost and an agreement that the village will retain a percentage of the home’s value when it sells.
As a resident, you’ll pay strata fees. These go towards management fees and maintenance of common areas. There will be the chance to attend regular owners’ meetings.
Residential Aged Care
The costs of living in a residential aged care facility vary.
To begin with, there is a basic daily fee that every resident must pay. If you or your loved one receives a pension, this fee will be drawn from there.
There may also be a price for the room, a refundable deposit or a daily payment required by the provider.
Read more: Schedule of Fees and Charges for Residential and Home Care
The Australian Government subsidises aged care homes across Australia to provide affordable, accessible care, and costs will vary depending on the families’ individual circumstances. For residents with assets, it is recommended to seek financial advice prior to moving into residential aged care.
If you or a loved one would like to find out more about residential aged care homes and how they might meet your needs, the Aged Care Decisions team can help. Call us on 1300 775 870 or reach out through our online form.
Retirement villages: the bottom line
If you or your loved one are mobile and able to live independently, a retirement village is the right choice. Living in a retirement village allows a resident to maintain their autonomy in an environment that still supports their needs.
A Home Care Package may be suitable for someone who lives in a retirement village but requires some additional support to take care of day-to-day tasks.
Residential Aged Care: the bottom line
In an aged care facility, all health care and daily living needs are taken care of. This is the right choice if you or your loved one:
- No longer feels comfortable living alone
- Needs support to move around
- Isn’t capable of preparing meals and being self-sufficient
- Has complex medical needs
- Is at risk of falling or being seriously injured while living at home
Modern aged care facilities are welcoming and friendly. They provide company, safety, comfort and round-the-clock support.
Aged Care Decisions’ 100% FREE aged care matching service can help you find aged care and respite care vacancies.
Our custom-built software together with our Placement Specialists can match your location, budget, care needs and personal preferences with providers that suit your specific needs.
Connect with us to receive a FREE personalised aged care Options Report.
