An Assisted Living Center, such as a residential care facility, provides either supervisory care services, personal care services or directed care services on a continuing basis. An Assisted Living Center is normally a larger facility than an Assisted Living Home, although they may provide similar services and are similarly licensed in Arizona.

There are three types of Assisted Living Centers. A Center is licensed either as a facility that will provide Directed Care, Personal Care or Supervisory Care. The majority of Assisted Living Centers are licensed to provide Directed Care Services, while a minority hold licenses to provide either the Personal Care or Supervisory Care.

The definitions of the three Assisted Living types are:

• Directed Care Services, which are programs and services, including personal care services, provided to persons who are incapable of recognizing danger, summoning assistance, expressing need or making basic decisions.
• Personal Care Services, which includes assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs - personal hygiene, mobility, eating, dressing, toileting, and behavior management), that can be performed by persons with-out professional skills or professional training and includes coordination or provision of intermittent nursing services and the administration of medications and treatments by a licensed nurse.
• Supervisory Care Services, such as general supervision, includes daily awareness of resident function and continuing needs, the ability to intervene in a crisis and assistance in the self-administration of prescribed medications.

Generally, the state licenses each facility to provide one (1) of the types of services outlined above, but not all three. Therefore, as you search for an Assisted Living Center, or home, choose the type of service most appropriate, realizing that the majority of facilities will be licensed only to provide Directed Care Services.