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Many confusing terms are used when housing for seniors is discussed, because there is a wide range of choices in both the private and non-profit housing sectors. This is a glossary of some common terms, and types, of housing intended for the use of older adults.
To help sort out the terms, it is useful to keep a few basic distinctions in mind, distinctions that may be blurred or non-existent in a particular housing development, but are nevertheless the basis of most discussions about seniors housing.
Housing or Care? Housing for seniors may offer an environment that is less demanding than, say, a two-storey single family dwelling. It may also provide some services such as laundry, housekeeping and meals. But unless health-care services are also provided by staff, it is housing and not care. Conversely, if medical care is part of the nature and purpose of the development, then it is care and not housing.
Care facilities in British Columbia are regulated by the Community Care Facility Act; there is no particular legislation, except the statutes governing tenure (Residential Tenancy Act, Strata Property Act), to regulate housing operations.
Affordability. Knowing that many older people, particularly older women, have relatively low incomes, federal and provincial governments have frequently subsidized housing developments for them. Since subsidized housing for seniors may be the only housing in a small town that is suitable for seniors needs, there may be confusion between seniors housing and subsidized housing.
Market or Non-Market? Housing for elderly citizens is frequently owned and operated by non-profit housing societies or co-operatives. Most towns in BC have subsidized housing developments managed by service clubs such as the Lions or Kiwanis, or by local housing societies. More recently, non-profit groups have begun to develop housing that may not have any government subsidy, but is still operated on a non-profit or breakeven basis. There are, of course, private companies that provide retirement housing at the high end of the affordability range.
Independent or Supportive? Many housing developments are targeted to people at or near retirement age who want to change their home to match a new lifestyle. Retirement communities marketed to this group can range from small-scale city condos to country estates. When individuals are much older, typically after age 75 or 80, they may be more interested in housing that matches their next lifestyle.
This is the market that providers of supportive housing are interested in: people who are experiencing some limitations in their activity or good health. They do not need any health services that cannot be provided in the usual way (doctors, hospitals, clinics or, occasionally, home nursing) but they appreciate a secure environment that reduces some of the demands of daily life.
Tenure. Older housing for seniors tends to be rental B and older rental apartments tend to be occupied by seniors. In the past, elderly people who owned homes either stayed until facility care was needed or sold to move in with family or into a rental apartment. These were the only options at the time for individuals who no longer wanted to maintain a single family home. More recently, with the development of condominium tenure, a person can reduce those demands by owning an apartment.
A newer form of tenure is the life lease (more information on this tenure will be included in a future fact sheet).
Glossary
Seniors' Housing. Any kind of housing restricted to households over a given age, usually 55, 60 or 65, as opposed to Adults-Only Housing, which sets the access age in the twenties.
Supportive Housing. Housing that is restricted to seniors, containing, at a minimum, a private space with a lockable door, a safe and barrier-free environment, 24-hour monitoring and emergency response on site. Services such as housekeeping, laundry and meals may be provided on a package or as-needed basis. Social and recreational activities may also be available. Health services are available only as they would be to anyone living independently in the community. Another term frequently used, particularly in the US, is Assisted Living.
Congregate Housing. A type of supportive housing in which each household has a self-contained unit with at least a small kitchen. A dining room and other recreational areas are usually found on site.
Abbeyfield. A type of shared housing in which each person has a room and possibly a bathroom. Kitchen, lounge and sometimes bathing areas are shared. A housekeeper does the cooking and cleaning and monitors residents= well being.
Care Facility. A facility that provides care, supervision, social or educational training or physical or mental rehabilitative therapy, with or without charge, to 3 or more persons not related to the operator of the facility. Residents have private or shared rooms; common dining room and program space is also provided. Residents must be assessed as needing some level of continuing care, i.e., Intermediate Care or Extended Care (another level, Personal Care, is no longer publicly funded). Whether publicly or privately funded, these facilities must be licensed under the Community Care Facility Act.
Multilevel Care. A care facility that can provide care at many levels, in which residents can easily move from one level of care to another as required.
Home Support, Home Nursing. Services provided to individuals in their homes to prevent a move to a care facility. These may be assistance with activities of daily life such as bathing, housekeeping and meal preparation (Home Support) or routine nursing or rehabilitation services such as changing dressings, dispensing medications, or physiotherapy.
Naturally-Occurring Retirement Community (NORC). A building or neighbourhood where a lot of seniors live, usually attracted by a convenient location and appropriate housing stock.
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Ministry of Health (Office for Seniors)
(250) 952-1240
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