ADUs: Great Alternative to Healthcare facilities and Skilled nursing homes

Sooner or later, any person needs to decide on the matter of healthcare and the future of his or her elderly parents or relatives. In particular age and sometimes with certain medical conditions, some people need special personalized care and skilled nursing services, and usual living facilities are no longer suitable and comfortable for them.

Assisted living facilities

For people who do not need to stay in hospitals and clinics, human services suggest a wide range of healthcare facilities and auxiliary aids, like nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and ADA-adequate nursing homes for persons with disabilities. Such facilities can be daycare centers and long-term care facilities, which persons with special health requirements can visit or where to stay permanently to get necessary procedures. Residents of these health services not only receive skilled nursing services and appropriate care but also can become a part of the supporting community.

According to a Health Department survey, about 1.7 million people in America have chosen skilled nursing homes for long-term care and living. Every year, nursing homes in the USA receive Medicaid federal funding from the Health Department, as well as many state and city hospitals. So, this sphere evolves and develops greatly. In California, there is a wide diversity of facilities. For example, Baptist Village ADA nursing home offers a wide range of health services like assisted living, residential living, skilled nursing, and many others. A great variety of features are included. Baptist Village Nursing Home is a really nice community to visit and stay for long-term care.

Sure, there are some fine points in living in nursing homes with professional health assistance. All of them have the right equipment in compliance with ADA law. And their residents may feel good, but it is an excellent idea if their lives can be left unchanged. It is a great option for older adults to have no separation from the family, and they may stay at home.

In this article we are going to speak about such good alternatives to assisted living facilities like addition of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) . Read further if you are looking for some fresh ideas about it.

What is ADA

Originally, the ADA was the Americans with disabilities act (ADA) or rehabilitation act. It is a civil rights act that regulates all the spheres of the community. It concerns people with disabilities and their rights. The law strictly forbids discrimination against persons with disability in all spheres of social life, including professional matters, study, healthcare services and healthcare facilities (state and city hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities), public transportation, public accommodation, and others. The ADA law concentrates on providing a fine quality of life for people with special necessities and health conditions so as to comply with their specific requirements. Provisions of the ADA law determine equal access for all of the social groups of people.

Moreover, the ADA law prescripts requirements for performance to some federal agencies and federal funding. In order to ensure all the procedures to implement the decisions of the law.

ADA Laws: 3 major points to consider

Five important parts of the ADA law determine essential rules. Now, we propose to review 3 of them, which relate to our topic of interest directly:

Employment (title i )

• This article forbids all forms of discrimination because of disability or some health conditions in all of the steps of the working process, as well as all points of employment. This title also gives instructions about the organization of space in professional offices. The employer must organize a professional office as well as any other workspace to meet the special needs of people with disabilities.
• Working facilities must be fully accessible and comply with all the requirements according to ADA prescriptions. Any office or workplace must have a location to make it easy to access for all the employees.
• In addition, this part of the ADA defines reasonable accommodation for all workstations, such as modifying schedules, restructuring jobs, and regulating medical check-ups and medical examinations in some clinics, hospitals, and other health facilities.

Public Services (title ii)

• This section of the ADA clarifies all the important information about using public services by people with disabilities and giving them equal access. It points out that all of the services must be equally provided for all of the people with disabilities in the same way as for people without disabilities. In addition, Title Ii of the law resolves that all public transportation buses must be easily accessible.

Public Accommodations (title iii)

• As indicated in Title iii of Americans with Disabilities (ADA) law, all the new public places, spaces, locations, and facilities, including those that are in private ownership, must be suitable and fully accessible for people with disability and have all of the important amenities according to ADA. This applies to restaurants, shops, hotels, retail stores, and many other types of facilities. For existing facilities, it is necessary to provide free access if it is physically possible to implement.

Advantages of ADU Over ADA Nursing Home

Sure, nursing homes offer a good level of services for their residents: older adults and individuals with different disabilities. There exist a great variety of such assisted living services: long term care facilities and retirement communities. They differ in prices and services that they offer and provide, special medical equipment and procedures. Actually, nursing homes can really be rather comfortable. But, at the same time, can any medical facility replace a personal house?

Here we suggest some major reasons why ADU, in some cases, is a better option:

1. Individuality and Independence of Living Facilities
2. When elderly persons retire, it is always difficult for them to keep the same place in the social sphere, but according to many surveys, it could usually be one of the most important reasons for loss of interest in life. But we want our relatives and loved ones to save health as long as possible.
3. Moreover, when they move to assisted living facilities, especially with long-term care, they very often feel lonely and miss their family. Sometimes, residents of such places even have some depressive disorders. That is why living in an ADU near the family is a good idea. In ADU homes, elderly persons or individuals with a disability can still be the only host of the house without the need to adjust under the regulations of some special skilled nursing home or assisted living facility. People should not change their habitual way of life; they should change their schedules and habits. We all know how difficult it can be in such an age when people are not as flexible as before.
4. Saving money for Skilled Nursing homes
5. Prices are growing constantly, and we all have a lot of expenditures: food, utilities, payment for education, taxes, servicing the car, and many others. And no one is happy with increasing spending. It is not a secret that sometimes, paying for nursing homes could be a significant budget item. Especially if we are talking about a high-skilled nursing home or long-term care nursing home. For example, in an average nursing home in California, prices start from about $10.000 per one-month stay in a private room. In these cities, skilled nursing homes are much more expensive than in other regions of the country.

ADU or Nursing home: Price comparison

Sure, it isn’t easy to define unequivocally what is more advantageous because of the different modifications and features that represent the pricing for skilled nursing homes and ADU homes. The more additional services and components you choose, the more the price increases. There are a great variety of different factors for both options, but let’s make an average calculation. The prices for ADU start from about $240,000 for the whole project. It is a standard ADU with one bathroom and one kitchen. Prices for nursing homes in California and San Diego start from about $10.000. 

The good news is that you pay for ADU only once, and the expenses will become equal within about two years. Of course, these two variants have their pros and cons. In the case of the ADU option, you increase the value of the estate, but a nursing home will provide extra care and assistance to your loved one.

How to Comply with the ADA Requirements in ADU

Our company offers the possibility to take into consideration and implement any special Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. While discussing and designing the floor plan, inform our manager that we should consider the particular needs of residents with disabilities or in wheelchairs.

We will prepare all the important amendments and, at the construction stage, will take into account all the moments. We already have a lot of experience with such issues.

What is ADA compliance?

According to the Americans with disabilities act (ADA) by state and local governments, persons with special needs and disabilities require special services. Justice’s civil rights division of human services with Americans with disabilities act (ADA) in titles ii and iii determines a range of special regulations. It includes standards in public accommodation for compliance in order to meet the requirements and needs of people with disabilities.

ADA defines that all the main household appliances, furnishings, electronics,equipment must be located within the access in order to ensure high quality of life and make life of a person in living facilities comfortable and safe.

Here are some key aspects:

• Accessible spaces. According to the ADA Act and Title iii, all the locations, equipment, spaces, furnishings, and storage units should be fully accessible by the residents in wheelchairs or with disabilities. When necessary, it includes wider doorways, roomy dining space, lowering kitchen counters, and other types of ADA compliances. All the important units should have a convenient location. The whole design of the facility should be user-friendly and leave much free space. All of the locations and spaces must suit the resident’s demands.
• Grab bars. It is one more important consideration by ADA and, in some cases, essential equipment that provides safety for individuals with a disability. The ADAA recommends installing this compliance in all key locations like bathrooms, toilets, and hallways to provide the right access and sustainability.
• Operable windows. Also important is ADA compliance, which helps to improve mobility and comfort. It is crucially important to make windows accessible so that residents with special needs can open them without any assistance from others.
• Floorplan. In accordance with ADU, there should not be more than one floor in the facility for persons in wheelchairs and with a particular disability. As well as different floor levels and stairs. All the organization of the space at home should give the right visibility and enough space to make all the important furnishings easily accessible.

ADU Or Assisted Living Facilities: What to choose

First of all, we have provided some essential information about ADA laws, most important provisions of the law regarding individuals with disabilities and specific health conditions. In this article we have also proposed some conceivable options of supplying the ADU home with all the necessary ADA details. On the other hand,we have considered advantages and disadvantages of placing the elderly in ADU or in assisted living facilities.

Will your final decision be to choose one of the suitable nursing homes or to build an accessory dwelling unit in compliance with ADA laws? It is difficult to say definitely because of some factors which you should take into account when you think about what option to choose. A lot depends on your current life situation and the particular needs of an older adult or person with disabilities. Also, the money that you have for the project plays a significant role. The time frame in which the question awaits a decision is also important.

Finally, we suggest you to certainly take into consideration the fact that the Accessory Dwelling Unit is an advanced and advantageous answer to the housing question. There are a large number of merits of this fresh idea. First of all, it is always better to be the owner of the real estate property than to pay for renting the accommodation.

ADU is a modern, comfortable, multifunctional solution that you will utilize for many years once you buy it. Moreover, the Accessory Dwelling Unit is the right investment, as it increases the property value.

Frequently Asked Questions — FAQ

How long will it take to implement the ADU project?

It depends on the modification and extra details you choose. Average ADU with 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom usually takes about nine months for all the processes starting from design and finishing with construction.

How to make ADU homes safer for people with disabilities?

We suggest a lot of equipment according to ADA law and we also can offer some additional instruments like a range of sensors: motion sensor lights, door sensors and others. Smart systems can regulate the temperature and lighting.

How to solve the problem with stairs in the ADU entrance in case of people in wheelchairs?

There is a possibility to choose a project without stairs, with a flat entrance. Or sometimes it is convenient to add some special wider entrance because the standard size of doorway usually is not sufficient for wheelchairs.