The Problem: A False Choice Between Community Living and Access to Health Related Services

"The false choice between the social model and health care expertise contradicts the goal of aging in place: to age with choice and independence, along with access to needed services."

This policy issue brief, by Justice in Aging attorneys Eric Carlson and Fay Gordon, is the second in a series exploring how California’s current assisted living system addresses residents’ health care needs, and how the system could be modified to better serve residents. The first, Pretending that Medication is Always Self-Administered, focused on how some residents need their medication given to them, but, since the workers are not supposed to be administering medication, they must pretend that the medication was self-administered, a state of affairs that doesn't serve workers or residents.

This latest brief highlights residents’ expectations for health and social services, and recommends that California reject the false choice between community living and access to health-related services by incorporating appropriate health care expertise into the assisted living model.