Assisted Living Facilities in Georgia

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in Georgia

What they're called

Official name: Personal Care Homes

Common name: Assisted living facilities

To compare assisted living to board and care, skilled nursing, and other long-term residential care communities, see Residential Care Options: How to Decide.

What they offer

• Individual living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments with kitchen)
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• Medication management
• Personal care services: assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, dressing, and bathing
• Social and exercise activities
• "Specialized Memory Care Units" for residents with memory loss (most facilities)

Note: Some facilities also offer respite care and other special services.

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $2,400 (higher for residents requiring memory care)

State of Georgia requirements

• A physical examination must be completed and provided to the facility within 30 days prior to admission to a specialized memory Care Unit, stating that the resident has a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease or other dementia and a need for placement in the specialized unit.
• Following admission, an assessment must be made to determine levels of family support, need for assistance with ADLs, other physical care needs, and behavior impairment.

State of Georgia oversight

Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division (404-657-4076) licenses and regulates Personal Care Homes.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the Georgia long-term care ombudsman at 888-454-5826; this is a free service helping residents informally resolve problems with a facility.
• File a complaint with the Office Regulatory Services.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in Georgia

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or his or her family.
• For Medicaid-eligible low-income Georgia residents, the Community Care Services Program and the Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment (SOURCE) program pay part of the monthly fees in participating facilities.
• Low-income veterans or surviving spouses of veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance or other payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which can help pay for assisted living.
• Some assisted living facilities offer sliding scale fees, making a higher level of care available to families that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Be sure to ask -- or ask a geriatric care manager in the area if he or she knows which facilities offer sliding scale fees).

Help finding and choosing a facility

• Hire a geriatric care manager (most have extensive local knowledge about assisted living facilities in a particular geographic area, including space availability, resident needs assessments, sliding scale fees, and resident satisfaction). To find a geriatric care manager, see Caring.com's Senior Living Directory.
• For details about assisted living facilities in each of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, see A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities.