Assisted Living In Ilinois
Depending on where you’re living, Illinois might not be one of the states that pops up when you’re looking for a state to retire to, and especially if you’re used to getting to places by car. Also, the winters in Illinois are rather cold and pretty snowy. If these things don’t bother you that much, Illinois has lots of sought-after perks that people can appreciate. The Prairie State has something to offer to everyone, be it great food, shopping venues, exploration areas, and much more. Despite the frigid winters that are present in Illinois, this state has beautiful beaches that are pleasurable during summertime. There are three beaches in Chicago, and they are frequented by people from all over the nation. These beaches are 31st Street beach, Montrose Beach, and North Avenue Beach.
Not much different than other cities, Chicago is a rather busy city. If you like living a fast-paced life and getting to your destination by means of public transport, you’ll likely feel at home here. If, instead, you prefer driving by car and not paying a steep price for parking, you might want to take a look at suburban areas like lake Barrington that is around one hour driving north of Chicago. The benefit to living in smaller towns is that if you ever have the need to go to a bigger city, it’s usually not too far. Aside from that, these sorts of cities have less congested traffic, free parking slots, and a satisfactory amount of shopping and food options.
Before you decide to retire in Illinois, you’ll probably want to familiarize yourself with this state’s senior living options, costs, and benefits. To make the decision easier, we have collected all the vital information regarding Illinois’ senior living options, as well as the support systems that have been put in place, including the amenities that each of these has to offer. If you have a general idea so as to where in Illinois you’d like to move to, there’s a list of cities down below.
With a hosing index of 96.20, Illinois is one of the less expensive states to live in. Other states that have bigger cities like California and New York, tend to be more expensive to live in. Because of that, if you prefer living close to big cities and not pay high housing costs, you should take Illinois into consideration. One-bedroom apartments in this state go for an average monthly cost of $852, and two-bedroom apartments go for about $1,028 per month.
Home healthcare services can be used by seniors in their own homes. These services are mostly used by seniors that need help with housekeeping, everyday chores, and meal preparation. In Illinois, home healthcare services have an average monthly cost of $4,195. If you don’t have a primary caregiver, there are home health caregivers for hire, and their services have an average monthly cost of $4,290. These hired caregivers provide extensive care to seniors in their own homes.
Seniors in need of a stay at a supervised facility while their caregivers deal with their own obligations usually use the adult daycare centers that are available in Illinois. These centers have an average monthly cost of $1,562. At these centers, the staff tends to the socialization and health needs of their residents and provide them with any therapy they might need. While basic healthcare is provided at these centers, it’s worth noting that adult daycare doesn’t provide extensive nursing care, so if you’re in need of such a care, you better take a look at nursing homecare.
Illinois is also a home to assisted living facilities which provide more extensive assistance with their daily tasks. These facilities provide their healthcare and personal care services for an average cost of $3,720 per month. These facilities, much like adult daycare centers, don’t provide extensive nursing care and should be considered as a form of long-term care.
Seniors in need of 247 supervision and healthcare that can’t be provided by their primary caregivers, either by lack of time or resources should take a look at nursing homes. While it is the most expensive form of senior care, friends and family of the seniors will be at peace of mind knowing that their elders are getting all the supervision and medication that they need throughout the day or night. Semi-private rooms at these centers have an average monthly cost of $5,688, while rooms with greater privacy have an average monthly cost of $6,524. Illinois’ senior living centers have lower costs when compared to the national average, or other states with big cities.
Benefits of Choosing Illinois for Senior Living
While it might not have favorable weather, Illinois still has much to offer for its citizens. Below, we have listed some of the more important benefits to retiring in Illinois.
Delicious Food in Ilinois
Being a home to immigrants from all over the world, Illinois’ food options are rather plentiful. Seniors will have the pleasure of tasting authentic Asian, European, Arabic, Persian cuisine, among others. The tightly packed surrounding of Chicago will make it easier for people to try several different cuisines every day as experienced chefs from famous restaurants in the city are open for business all day and night.
Many Senior-friendly Activities in Ilinois
Chicago’s landscape got crushed by glaciers many years ago, which created flat terrain and a plethora of lakes. This gave way to forming marvelous waterways, which can be enjoyed during both sunrise and sunset. Another fun thing for seniors to experience are the architecture and museums scattered all over Chicago, including events and activities being held at the city’s landmarks. Some of them include the Navy Pier, the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Adler Planetarium and nearby park grounds, as well as the Millennium Park, to name a few.
Ilinois Seniors’ Tax Benefits
Illinois has a very tax-friendly system for the retirees. This state doesn’t have any taxes of Social Security income and public pension income. Another thing that’s not taxed in this state are withdrawals from retirement accounts. While wages have a normal tax rate, seniors retiring in Illinois needn’t worry about those.
Exemplary Healthcare
One of the most important things to consider while changing states is access to quality healthcare and Illinois’ healthcare system is perfect for the elderly. Another thing worth noting is that this state has more doctors per capita than the national average. This, in turn, means that if you ever have the need for their services, you won’t have to travel far. The Prairie State provides its citizens with top-of-the-line hospitals, including some world known ones, like the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Senior Living Options in Ilinois
There are lots of senior living options to choose from in Illinois. Determined by each individual’s needs, retirees may choose from independent living, assisted living, memory care, or nursing home centers. If you’re not sure which of these is the right one for you, feel free to keep on reading, as we have explained the services that each of them has to offer, as well as the costs associated with those services.
Independent Living
With over 650 independent living facilities operating all over Illinois, seniors that lead healthy and active lives and not in need of 24/7 care should take this option into consideration. The average monthly cost for these facilities can range from as low as $576 to as high as $3,575 per month.
One of the options that is usually chosen for independent living is apartment living. This type of senior care provides seniors with an environment that is used by persons aged 55+ or 65+, depending on the apartment community. These communities have various amenities at the seniors’ disposal like gyms, walking trails, meeting rooms, pools and jacuzzies, among others. Some of these apartment communities may also offer transport services for those in need.
If you’ve made up your mind and decided to move to Illinois, it might be wise to consider buying a property. While apartments can be rented monthly, you also have the option if buying condos, townhouses, and cottages in the carious senior communities all over Illinois.
Cost-wise, the more affordable options can be found in the Carbondale-Marion area, while the more expensive ones are located in metropolitan areas like Chicago, Naperville, and Elgin.
Assisted Living
There are over 820 assisted living facilities operating throughout Illinois providing seniors access to healthcare and social activities that are designed so as to keep them busy in their final years. Experienced and professional caregivers are present on site, assisting seniors with housekeeping chores, transport, laundry services, meal preparation, and much more. These facilities have a 24/7 surveillance that keeps their residents safe.
Assisted living facilities in Illinois have an average monthly cost that can range anywhere from as low as $1,048 to as high as $6,500 per month. The more affordable facilities are usually situated in suburban towns, while the less affordable ones can be located in the metropolitan areas of Illinois.
Memory Care in Illinois
As dementia affects more and more seniors, memory care centers have become an important way to help seniors with dementia-related illnesses. Memory care centers are designed in a way that makes it easier to navigate through the hallways, which prevents seniors from getting lost and confused in case they forget where to go. The staff at these facilities is professionally trained in calming down seniors that fall into despair, as well as providing help with personal care, medication, and meal preparation.
The costs related with memory care centers may be high or low, depending on the level of care that is needed by the residents at these centers. The Chicago metropolitan area has an average annual cost of $96,921, while Carbondale and Marion have the most affordable average cost of $59,677 per year. The state average costs for memory care centers is $66,198 per year.
Nursing Homes
Illinois might have trouble down the road, at least when senior care is concerned. The reason for this is the spread-out towns with not-that-good public transportation and services that seniors require so as to remain somewhat independent. This will make seniors turn to other options like nursing care because the senior population has risen by 8% in the past decade, and this trend has shown no signs of slowing down. Some of these options are further elaborated below.
Adult Daycare Facilities
There are over 100 adult daycare facilities operating in Illinois and they provide much-needed assistance with fully equipped facilities in which seniors can receive all the care that they need during daytime. This option is perfect for seniors still living with their family but can’t take care of them during the day either by lack of time or experience.
Adult daycare facilities provide their residents with meals during weekdays and some for the weekends. Seniors will have access to social activities like puzzle solving, bingo, art classes and more. This helps seniors with their loneliness and depression, since their families are busy tending to their own daily obligations which keep them from properly caring for their elders.
The costs for adult daycare facilities is not that high, with an average annual cost of $17,290, much lower than the national average of $23,400. This price can vary greatly because of factors like location and quality/level of care provided. The more expensive options can be found in Rockford, where the average annual cost for adult daycare is $23,465, while more affordable options can be found in Decatur with an average annual cost of $13,000. Some of these facilities offer additional amenities such as salon services and massages, which can be paid a la carte.
Hospice Care in Ilinois
Nearly 150 hospice care facilities operate in Illinois, helping terminally ill seniors get all the care and attention needed so as to live out their final days with peace of mind. These seniors provide care for the terminally ill in various ways. Firstly, medical care alleviates the physical pain through medication by on-site physicians that make sure treatments are administered regularly. Secondly, hospice care provides emotional support for the residents facing the fact that they are in the final stage of their life. Grief counseling is also offered to both the residents and their families, helping them better handle the stress. Last, but not least, chaplain services offer spiritual support for those in need.
A most useful part of hospice care is that most of the time it comes free of charge. This is due to the fact that he costs related with hospice care are usually covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurances. The only drawback to this is that doctors must diagnose the patient with less than 6 months left to live.
Respite Care in Ilinois
Because of the fact that towns in Illinois are spread out, families that are taking care of their elderly will have trouble administering complete and quality care without any help. This help can be obtained through any one of the 800+ respite care centers located all over Illinois. Respite care can be administered in different ways, either by providing an experienced caregiver that will visit the seniors’ home, or by providing housing in a respite care facility for as long as needed. In this way, primary caregivers will be free to take care of their daily obligations without worrying for their seniors, who is being taken care of at one of these facilities.
Respite care facilities in Illinois have an average annual cost of $62,050. The costs may vary though, either by the level of care, the frequency of care, as well as the location where the facility is located at. The average monthly costs for respite care can range anywhere from $5,003 to $16,313. Do keep in mind that respite care can be provided daily, usually after a surgery. Another thing to consider is that most insurances don’t cover the costs for respite care.
