Assisted living communities and nursing homes have different standards for licensing by the state. However, both assisted living communities and skilled nursing homes owe residents the same duty of care.
Understanding Assisted Living Communities
In Kentucky, an assisted living community is a business entity that has a number of living units on one site for at least five adults who are unrelated to the owner or manager and that provides services for the people who live there. Services include help with activities of daily living, housekeeping, self-administration of medication, and scheduled social activities. Before a resident enters a lease at an assisted living community, a functional needs assessment must be conducted to determine if the resident can live in this type of environment. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living communities do not provide health care services.
Assisted living communities do not have mandatory staff-resident ratios. However, Kentucky does require that assisted living communities have:
- A designated manager
- Sufficient staff to meet residents’ scheduled and unscheduled needs 24 hours a day
- At least one staff member who is awake and on-site
New staff orientation and annual training are required for people who work at Kentucky assisted living communities.
Neglect and Abuse in Assisted Living Communities
Assisted living communities are not nursing homes. However, residents may still be hurt by the abuse and neglect of staff members. If your loved one has been injured because a staff member failed to exercise reasonable care, we encourage you to get your loved one the help she needs immediately.
Contact our experienced legal team which includes our nursing home injury lawyers and staff nurse. We will review what happened and make sure that you, or your loved one, know about your legal options so that you can make an informed choice about what to do now. Call us or start a live chat with us at your convenience to learn more.
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