Just as you have choices in where to work or which restaurant to eat dinner, you also have choices in where to live when you retire. Some of those options include staying in your current home, moving to a retirement home-ownership or rental community, or considering a move to the most comprehensive option — a Life Plan Community, formerly known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC).
Life Plan Communities offer residents the benefit of independent living within a vital and socially active community, along with the promise of care if and when those services are needed.
What Is a Life Plan Community?
To be considered a Life Plan Community, residents must be offered more than one level of care on location, be provided an active lifestyle, and have the opportunity to give back.
What About Evenglow?
Whether we call it a CCRC or a Life Plan Community, Evenglow is a community in the truest sense, attracting an inclusive and vibrant population of neighbors who share an appreciation for living well and a passion for doing good.
Under Evenglow’s agreement, residents are assured future care that includes assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing, should they ever need it. The agreement also includes amenities such as utilities; maintenance; a dining plan; housekeeping; and social, recreational, and lifelong learning programs.
How Do Life Plan Communities Work?
Life Plan Communities offer residential opportunities ranging from independent living to skilled nursing. Residents move in to the first level and are set for the rest of their lives, even if their needs should change. However, with the number of older Americans rapidly increasing, and many continuing to stay healthy and active longer than previous generations, some CCRCs took a look at their terminology and decided a change was needed.
How Did the Life Plan Community Get Its Name?
Today’s baby boomers aren’t just retiring. They are reinventing themselves by continuing to be healthy and active, and are in no way ready to sit back and just do nothing. Many are finding encore careers as a step into their new lives. Others are looking to settle into a community that will meet their needs. This is one of the reasons behind changing the name of CCRCs to Life Plan Communities.
Why Did the Name Change from CCRC to Life Plan Community?
Just as older adults have changed over the years, so have the communities in which they live. For years, senior housing was perceived negatively because those who resided there were said to have lost their independence. The original model of a CCRC was designed to change this perception. After a two-year renaming process, the term “Life Plan Community” was judged by some to better fit the overall care and perception of these communities than CCRC.
What Does It Mean to Be a Life Plan Community?
The term Life Plan Community was chosen because:
Life shows that the communities are much more than being about care. They are also about living your life to the fullest.
Plan encompasses the safety net benefits that CCRCs offer, including care and advanced wellness services.
Life Plan Community brings living and planning together to focus on a single category advantage of putting a plan in place that allows you to live your life to the fullest.
Because of this overwhelming preference for a new name for Continuing Care Retirement Communities, LeadingAge announced CCRCs should be referred to as Life Plan Communities. The group feels Life Plan Community does a better job conveying what tomorrow’s mature adults want in a senior living residence. The name change is more to represent the appeal shift and not the services offered by CCRCs.
Appeal Shift in the Wants and Needs of Today’s Retirees
While not all CCRCs are switching their terminology, the appeal to rebrand into Life Plan Communities persists. Today’s retirees don’t consider themselves old folks. They want to get out and move and engage in exciting activities, such as:
- Getting an encore career
- Eating locally sourced foods
- Going to wine tastings
- Enjoying salsa dancing
As the face of older Americans evolves, retirement communities are evolving themselves to appeal to new needs. Whether a community calls itself a CCRC or a Life Plan Community, both offer the same experience — only the name has changed.
The Life Plan Community Choice in Pontiac
Evenglow wants to give our residents peace of mind for the future by offering a promise of care, which will ensure they receive the best possible care for the rest of their lives in an environment where they will be comfortable and happy.
So, whether you’re looking forward to retiring to a Life Plan Community or a CCRC, Evenglow will exceed your highest expectations, offering exceptional care and a wide variety of amenities, services, and social outings. Contact us today at (815) 844-6131 for more information.