Congregate housing, or congregate living, offers independent living in separate apartments, and opportunities to share activities of daily living with other residents, as one chooses. They may be rental or ownership units or include a buy-in.

Today, congregate living communities are sometimes hard to tell apart from senior apartments that offer many services and opportunities to do activities together. In congregate housing communities where differences are minimal, the main difference may be in additional levels of care that are available within the same community as the congregate housing. These levels may include assisted living, skilled nursing, or Alzheimer care. Active senior apartments offering meals, services, transportation, and planned activities, will generally not include additional levels of life senior services within the same community.

Some 50% of residents move to within 10 miles of the community where they lived before, or where their children live. Children of seniors are involved in 50-60% of their decisions to move to a congregate care complex.

Shared activities in a congregate living setting may include:

  • Meals
  • Transportation
  • Housekeeping
  • Planned activities and outings
  • Religious services
  • Linen and personal laundry
  • Health monitoring

    • Sometimes a community or campus may offer independent Congregate living plus other levels of congregate care, including Assisted Living, Cohousing, Skilled Nursing, and Alzheimer's Care.

    When one of a couple has a need for a higher level of life senior services, while the other is able to live independently, a multi-level campus can meet the needs of both at their highest level of independence, while allowing them to stay together or close.

    Congregate Facilities are usually in the Yellow Pages under:

    • Nursing Homes and Residential Care
    • Retirement and Life Care Communities and Homes.
    • Congregate care Communities
    • Congregate Living Communities
    • Congregate Housing Communities
    • Nursing Homes - Information and Placement Bureaus
    • Homes - Residential Care Information and Placement Bureaus

    Find Congregate Housing in Your State

    While we don't have a directory dedicated to Congregate Housing, many of the facilities listed in the following directories may fit the definition, so check each of the directories by selecting your state and city, and call the facilities that look appealing. Ask them about congregate housing, and if they don't offer the additional levels of care that you're seeking, maybe they will be able to recommend an alternative.