It can be hard to acknowledge that a senior loved one needs more care than you can provide. Fortunately, there are senior care facilities that offer a nursing-home level of care in a home-like environment. 

Brookfield Senior Living in Hot Springs is a Level II Assisted Living facility that offers the comfort and coziness of home, as well as the care and support many seniors need as they age. 

Brookfield Senior Living in Hot Springs: A Level II Assisted Living Facility

As they age, many seniors need more care than family members or friends can provide. 

Declining mobility, worsening eyesight and cognitive function, and lower energy can make the activities of daily living challenging, even impossible, for seniors who live alone. 

Over time, we may turn to facility care to ensure that our senior loved ones have access to a greater level of care and support.

Unfortunately, many facilities that offer a nursing-home level of care don’t provide the comfortable, home-like environment your loved one needs to be happy. 

Brookfield Senior Living in Hot Springs is different. 

We are a certified Level II Assisted Living Facility in Hot Springs, Arkansas that can provide a more thorough level of care than Level I facilities. However, we also offer the inviting, comfortable atmosphere of a personal home. 

What is a Nursing Home Level of Care?

Facilities designated as Level I Assisted Living aren’t allowed to accept residents who require a nursing home level of care. 

Level II facilities are permitted to accept residents who require a nursing facility level of care, as long as the individual isn’t bedridden, immobile, totally incontinent, suffering from a terminal illness, or currently violent. 

In Arkansas, a nursing home level of care is defined as:

A formal level of care designation that makes an individual eligible for Medicaid-funded, nursing home care in an assisted living environment. In order for a potential resident to qualify for Medicaid-funded care at a Level II facility, the patient must display a functional need for a higher level of care than is available at a Level I facility. 

People who qualify for a nursing home level of care must:

• Be unable to independently care for themselves for a sustained period of time
• Need assistance with at least two Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) or Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). ADLs include basic daily activities like grooming, toileting, personal care and hygiene, feeding oneself, and mobility/transferring. IADLs include activities that make it possible to live independently, such as paying bills, housekeeping, doing laundry and taking medication.
• Must undergo a functional needs assessment that assures that the individual’s health and safety needs can be met in a Level II Assisted Living Facility and do not require care at the institutional level (i.e., in a nursing facility). A resident’s health needs assessment must be performed by a registered nurse (RN). 

Level II facilities must offer separate living quarters for individuals requiring a nursing home level of care and those who do not. 

Additionally, Level II facilities must employ a consulting pharmacist, a full-time on-site administrator, and at least one registered nurse (RN). They must also employ or contract with licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to assist with residents’ healthcare needs. 

Level II ALFs also require at least two staff to be on duty at all times, one of whom must be a CNA. 

How Is Assisted Living Different from Institutional Care?

Assisted living communities provide necessary medical and personal care services in a home-like setting. ALFs provide separate apartments or living quarters that are often personalized to the resident’s liking. ALFs also provide more robust community and recreational activities, including regular outings and trips. Assisted living facilities emphasize community, social interaction, personal independence and quality of life. 

This emphasis on quality of life and happiness in a social setting can make the prospect of long-term care more acceptable for seniors who can no longer live alone. 

Nursing homes or other institutional care settings are more clinical, focusing instead on the medical and personal care needs of the patient. 

Nursing homes often house a larger number of people than assisted living facilities and must offer a higher level of skilled nursing and medical care. Because of the larger number of residents and higher level of care required, most nursing homes place less emphasis on recreation, social interaction and community. 

Brookfield Senior Living: Expert Nursing Care in a Home-Like Setting

Brookfield Senior Living in Hot Springs offers both a Level II assisted living facility and a designated memory care unit for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia. 

Contact us today to learn more about our community. 

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