Boomers will be the biggest wave of retirees to hit the senior living market. To go along with the US's patchwork healthcare, there are no federal standards for senior living facilities. Each facility can market to whatever segment they wish - independent living, asst living, Skilled Care Nursing, Memory Care - or any combination thereof. SCN units almost always conform to Medicare and Medicaid regulations, however.
Senior facilities are subject to OSHA safety standards (weak) and state regulations (strong to weak, depending on where you live). Private care - residential homes which care for a limited # of residents and generally the lowest cost - are at what I'd call "basic asst. living care".
We looked at one such place for MIL and it seemed like cheap caretaking. Not bad, per se - if you had no family and couldn't live by yourself, and couldn't afford the hefty cost for a really good facility with full services and large staff - it was plain but clean, neat, didn't smell, and the residents were nice. But there was little to do besides walk in the garden or watch TV.
Good places in CA metropolitan areas have waiting lists from 2 months to 5 years long. The really good ones, with low turnover and high quality, NEVER advertise. Non-profits give better care than for-profits, but NPs are harder to find, and many Big Corps buy them up to turn them into FP facilities. And residents have no power to protest such a change, unfortunately.
The facility we chose for MIL was top-notch, one of the top three in CA. Extremely low turnover, which is key. Located within 10 minutes of our home in urban area, but had 5-acre secured campus with its own senior center on-site and full range of services, including van services for shopping, medical appointments and outside special events. The food was so good we had a couple of extended family dinners there, in fact.
