If you are considering a particular Adult Family Home residence, then the capacity of the staff to deal with an unexpected medical emergency is going to be of paramount importance. Not all Adult Family Homes are equal. Some have wake staff, some have a preponderance of retired registered nurses as their primary staff, and both these qualities will tell you a lot about the kind of health support capacity the residence has. Let’s go into each of these, and other, details:

In any Adult Family Home, food is one of the most important considerations. When you’re a teenager, it feels like any food is good enough, but as we age, food becomes an increasingly important issue, and for several reasons: Health, enjoyment and nutrition.

Assisted living is not as rigorous a category of business that an Adult Family Home is. Assisted living can be quite a number of levels – from basic domestic services – to extreme, 24-7 caregiving for a resident. Adult Family Homes, on the other hand, have some specific requirements that make it easier for everyone to understand how good a fit a Adult Family Home would be for their loved one.

Perhaps the single most interesting facet of life in an Adult Family Home (versus life in a Nursing Home) is the maximum allowed number of residents. A mere six residents are allowed, at least in the state of Washington. Beyond six, it is not allowed to offer its services as an Adult Family Home, and that limit makes for a number of advantages. It also allows a lot more flexibility in the services it offers to each and every resident.

The good news is, Washington State has a good number of regulations on the books about how an Adult Family Home may be operated. There are laws about medicines, staff qualifications, food, facilities, maximum numbers of residents, and of course safety and security. Perhaps one of the most important rules about Adult Family Homes – at least, in this state – is that no more than six residents may live in any one Adult Family Home household. That maximum relates to the number of residents, and not the staff, part time or otherwise.

A big difference between, say, a hospital and an Adult Family Home is that the latter does not usually have ill people residing there. We’ve all noticed how, if we’ve ever had the need to stay overnight in a hospital, we are scurried out of the place before we might ideally like to leave. There are a lot of reasons for that, mostly because of resources and insurance limits. In an Adult Family Home, however, it’s a true residence, often for a long time. If a resident moves in at say, sixty years of age, they might stay there several decades.

In the State of Washington, the term Adult Family Home has a specific meaning. There are laws on the books about what services must be included, as well as limits on number of residents, hygiene standards, and premises security. Random inspections of registered and licensed Adult Family Homes are conducted all year long by state employees, and every Adult Family Home can expect to get a visit at least once a year. This keeps the standard high, it keeps everyone honest, and it’s good for both the residents and the Adult Family Home providers themselves.

The short answer is Food, Location, Security, Staff and Peace, but let’s take each aspect individually and dig deeper into it.

Food is a big deal in an Adult Family Home

As we age, we become more sensitive to what we eat. If you remember, as a teenager, you might have been able to lunch on two Mars bars and a liter of Mountain Dew, but by the time we reach retirement age, such dreadful snacks don’t work so well. To live to a ripe old age, and in good health, what we eat is probably the single most important thing.