Recommendations for Medical and Mental Health Care in Assisted Living: The Be Well in AL Coalition

Dating back to the inception of Medicare and Medicaid in the United States, older adults who required health and supportive care beyond what could be provided in a private home had little choice other than to move to a nursing home. In the ensuing decades, numerous forces led to an evolution in residential care options. These forces included an increasing number of people who required care, a shortage of nursing home beds, rising costs of nursing home care, recognition that many people living in nursing homes did not in fact require skilled nursing care, dissatisfaction with nursing homes, and awareness of a gap between independent senior housing for largely independent older adults and nursing homes for those who required care.