Types of assisted living for mentally ill?

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Assisted living options for the mentally ill include residential psychiatric treatment centers, group homes and home health care services. These options can provide long-term or short-term care, depending on the severity of your mental illness. All options provide mentally ill people with guidance in completing daily tasks, such as dressing and grooming, and offer medical care. A patient’s freedom to interact with the outside world may be limited, depending on the complications and dangers associated with a particular diagnosis.

Residential psychiatric treatment centers, also known as mental health centers, are one of the more restrictive assisted living options. Usually admitted voluntarily on the recommendation of physicians, government agencies, or court-appointed therapists, residents of these centers receive treatment for moderate to severe mental illness ranging from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia to clinical depression and anxiety. Staffed with psychiatrists, nurses and behavioral specialists, these centers are able to provide daily therapy through medication and counseling.

Some treatment centers cater to specific demographics. For example, some limit residence and treatment to children and adolescents only, providing a youthful atmosphere with games, sports and in-house education. Other residential centers may specifically target older residents with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Special centers are often available specifically to help military veterans whose mental illness may be the result of PTSD. This type of specialization in places that offer assisted living for the mentally ill allows for more personalized resources, center design, and services, as well as a higher level of comfort and camaraderie for patients.

Unlike treatment centers, which are rarely found in residential neighborhoods, group homes are small structures that house a dozen residents in a typical single- or multi-family home in the middle of a traditional neighborhood. These residents, under the supervision of trained medical and behavioral personnel, can learn to interact with other citizens by going to parks and other neighborhood environments. This type of facility, usually for mild to moderate psychiatric cases, offers low-restriction assisted living with locked or monitored exit doors and a curfew.

Home health care options also offer mild to moderate care for the mentally ill. The patient remains in their own home, receiving additional help from nurses or aides who visit on a schedule. Some assistants come every day, while others might visit once a week. The advantage of home health care is that the patient has more privacy, control and a familiar environment. One disadvantage is the travel, because the patient has to leave the house to go to doctor’s appointments or hospital examinations.

Insurance typically covers all three types of assisted living for the mentally ill. Government grants and financial aid programs for low-income patients can also cover expenses for these treatment settings. Whether it is residential centres, group homes or outpatient therapy in a home health care setting, these supported living options need not be permanent; often, if age is not a factor, they can serve as transitional options to help a patient improve enough to return to normal life.

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