Maybe it depends on the facility, but Independent Living accommodations are usually roomier and more like a regular apartment. You have the option to eat the meals provided in the dining room or you can cook a meal in your own apartment. You have weekly light housekeeping, sometimes light laundry service but you get no care giving type assistance or medical - help bathing, dressing, taking meds, etc.
Many people in the Independent Living facilities are still driving, although they have the option to take the shuttle to doctors appts and to run errands if that is what they prefer to do. There are also activities, entertainment and group outings.
Assisted Living facility rooms are often, not always, smaller because the person often has mobility issues and needs help with their personal care.
As far as the continuing care facilities go where you move from Independent Living to Assisted Living or Memory care to nursing care, it sounds good in theory, but I'm not clear on how they manage the downsizing that comes with each higher level of care. Who determines when it's time to take the keys away from a driver? What happens to the car? Who is making sure that the registration and insurance are being paid on the car if it isn't sold? Who helps a person with sudden mobility issues to downsize into a smaller apartment for assisted living and then maybe even into a semi private room for nursing care? Who is dealing with those logistics?
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