Oklahoma Assisted Living

In Oklahoma, assisted living is called Assisted Living Centers for the purpose of licensure. The Department of Health and Protective Health Services is the department that oversees the licensing for all assisted living centers and nursing homes in Oklahoma. This includes assisted living facilities and residential care facilities. The distinct difference is that assisted living facilities in Oklahoma can provide a certain level of medical care, but a residential care facility cannot. There is a difference in licensing because the staffing requirements are different, as well as insurance and liability.

Tips for Choosing the Best Assisted Living Facility in Oklahoma

When considering the best assisted living community in Oklahoma, location is a significant factor. Your loved one should feel completely safe in their new home. From experience, seniors feel safer in a community that is closer to their homes than those that are far away. It gives them a sense of security and comfort. You should consider these options if you are helping your loved one to choose the best assisted living in Oklahoma.

Familiarity

For most seniors, it is essential to their comfort during their stay in the facility. Look for a facility that feels like home and offers maximum comfort to its residents. Seniors have a far easier time adjusting to their new assisted living home if it already feels homey and familiar to them.

Quality of care

This is the most crucial aspect worthy of consideration when looking for the best assisted living facility in Oklahoma. Have you toured several assisted living facilities in the state and assessed the quality of senior care they offer? Were you satisfied with the results? Not all Oklahoma assisted living facilities are created equal. While some may offer the same services on paper, in reality the services may not be the same quality across different communities. See how qualified the staff are and how happy the residents of the community are with the services they receive.

Budget

How much do you plan to spend in an assisted living facility in Oklahoma? Your budget should depend on how long you plan to stay, and the level of care required. However, if you are on a tight budget, yet desire the best care for your aged loved one, research well, you can still find your ideal community among the plethora of options available.  There are many assisted living facilities in Oklahoma that provide basic amenities and help with medication for an affordable price.

Assisted living facility’s website

The assisted living facility’s website provides an abundance of valuable information regarding the assisted living facility’s terms and conditions, fees, amenities provided, as well as the level of care. You can visit the various assisted living communities’ websites after a typical tour to learn more about their mode of operation and finalize your decision.

Understanding your needs

It’s significant to make a list of your needs, whether they are current or anticipated. It will guide you as you search for the best facility that offers assisted living in the Oklahoma. It is essential to ensure that the assisted living facility provides the senior care services you seek. The key to a beneficial search is to understand your needs first.

Support or companionship

It’s not easy to stay far away from family. Many seniors might experience homesickness of some days or weeks. Although this should be expected and should not be a cause for panic, the facility must be able to provide the needed emotional support to seniors to enable them to overcome such feelings and accept the community as their new home.

Type of care offered in an assisted living facilities in Oklahoma:

• Supervision
• Personal care
• Assistance with memory care or Alzheimer’s’ disease
• Assistant with activities of daily living
• Mobility assistance

There are so many factors you should watch out for when searching for senior living options in a state such as Oklahoma. Touring an assisted living facility is not enough; you need to ask questions about the factors that matter most to you, ensure the facilities understand your needs, and assess the compassion of the caregivers.

Cost of Assisted Living in Oklahoma

Statewide, the average fee a family must pay for an assisted living facility in Oklahoma is $3,325, which is around $700 below the national average. Least expensive assisted living homes can be found in Enid, at $2,860 and Lawton at $3,238 average monthly cost.  These are all substantially below the national average, enough so that in some areas they can be considered an affordable source of assisted living. The most expensive cities for assisted living in Oklahoma are Oklahoma City and Tulsa, at a range of $3,339 to $3,488 per month – still below the $4000 nationwide average cost. This makes the entire state an affordable state for assisted living and senior health care facilities. Of course, when anything falls below the national average, it’s good to do a thorough quality check on a few places to make sure the senior that needs the attention will get the care they need. Price may or may not have much to do with it.

One thing we always make certain that you understand is that memory care and Alzheimer’s care is not included in the base-rates reflected here. Memory and dementia care in Oklahoma will cost between $665 to $997 more than basic assisted living. That’s under the typical average for that medical service as well, but can still add nearly $1,000 to the monthly bill.

At this time, there are no Medicaid waiver programs available to pay for personal services at any senior living residences in Oklahoma at this time.

Looking for other options for assisted living payment may mean looking into long-term care insurance, cashable annuities, or retiree and military veteran benefits that could be used.

Regulations for Assisted Living Apartments in Oklahoma

There is no minimum square footage given as a regulation for assisted living in Oklahoma. The only guideline that is given is that the room must suite the mental, physical and medical needs of the resident. Therefore, the size of the assisted living unit is decided by need and not by legal standard. There is a maximum of two residents allowed in a senior care unit.

The bathrooms cannot be used by more than one resident at the same time. There is a maximum of four residents that can share the bath and shower facilities at any given assisted living unit. If there needs to be more than 4 residents sharing the bath and shower facilities, then it must be proven that there is a need. The facilities also have to be modeled according to the needs of the residents who are using them for any special need.

List of Assisted Living Facilities in Oklahoma:

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