Board and Care Homes

Board and care homes are a communitybased residential option for older adults requiring care and services. As part of the continuum of care from home to nursing home, they assist primarily those not needing nursing or medical care but unable to live independently due to physical or cognitive impairments. Homes range in size and in extent to which the environment is institutional, from very small, family-style, residential settings in communities of single-family homes to larger, multiroom, more "institutional" facilities (Morgan et al., 1995). Regardless of size, board and care facilities offer residents shelter (room), meals (board), twenty-four-hour supervision, and a range of services, often for a minimal cost.