Assisted Living Facilities in Utah

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in Utah

What they're called

Official name: Assisted Living Facilities

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 or shared (up to two persons) living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments) with some cooking facilities; bathrooms may be shared
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• General supervision
• Intermittent, part-time nursing services
• Arrangements for necessary medical and dental services
• Assistance with administration and management of medications
• Personal care services, including assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, toileting, and bathing)
• Social and exercise activities

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

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $2,647.50 (higher for residents requiring memory care)

State of Utah requirements

• A resident may contract with outside agencies and providers to provide both medical and personal care.
• State-mandated resident assessment must be made upon admission and every six months thereafter.

State of Utah oversight

The Utah Department of Health, Facility Licensing, Certification and Resident Assessment (800-662-4157) oversees assisted living facilities.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the regional office near you of the Utah long-term care ombudsman program, or call the central office at 801-538-4001; this is a free service to help residents informally resolve problems with a facility.
• To register a complaint about a facility, you can do so on the telephone complaint line of Utah's Department of Health, Facility Licensing, Certification and Resident Assessment at 800-999-7339.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in Utah

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or his or her family.
• For Medicaid-eligible low-income residents 65 or over who would otherwise need nursing home care, Utah's home and community-based aging waiver pays for some personal care services provided in participating assisted living 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.