Where to start › Planning ahead › The in-between options
The options between "home" and "nursing home"
Most families frame the decision as a cliff: stay home, or "put them in a home." The real landscape is a staircase with half a dozen steps, several of which preserve far more independence — and cost far less — than families expect. Here is the whole staircase, plainly.
Stay home, with structure around it
- The village movement — member-run neighborhood nonprofits (dues commonly tens to a few hundred dollars a year) whose volunteers handle rides, small repairs, and tech help, with a social calendar attached; a few hundred operate nationwide (directory: vtvnetwork.org).
- NORC programs — where a building or neighborhood has "naturally" aged, some (especially in New York) attach on-site coordinators, nursing, and activities (aging.ny.gov).
- Home sharing — matched housemates (screened, with written agreements) trading rent or help for company and presence; nonprofit programs listed at the National Shared Housing Resource Center (nationalsharedhousing.org).
Move somewhere easier — before care is the point
Independent living communities (apartment living with meals, activities, and maintenance — no personal care) ran a median of about $3,065/month in early-2026 surveys (seniorliving.org). The under-appreciated logic: moving while healthy means choosing a place for its life, not its beds — and the move is made once, with the person's full participation.
When daily help is the point
- Assisted living / personal care homes — the middle of the staircase; covered on the crisis-side page and searchable in our directory. Median $6,200/month (2025 CareScout survey).
- Small board-and-care homes (residential care homes, adult family homes — names vary by state): a licensed caregiver's actual house, typically 4–10 residents, higher staff-to-resident ratio, fewer amenities, often meaningfully cheaper than large communities (market medians around $5,500/month for a private room). Many families who'd hate a "facility" love these. Our state directories include them wherever states license them.
- Memory care — secured dementia-specialized assisted living, typically ~25% above regular assisted living (market median ~$6,690/month, 2026 — aplaceformom.com); more on the memory-care page.
Two structural options round out the staircase, each with its own page: CCRCs — one campus holding every step — and small-house nursing homes, the home-shaped version of the top step.
Who helps you locally — free, and on your side. You do not have to figure this out alone. Your Area Agency on Aging gives free options counseling; reach any of them through the federal Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov (Administration for Community Living). More on the four people who help — and what each one does — on Who helps me locally.
Quick answers
What options exist between living at home and a nursing home?
A whole staircase: village-movement memberships and home sharing (structured support while staying home), independent living (median ~$3,065/month, 2026), assisted living and personal care homes (median $6,200/month, 2025), small board-and-care homes (~$5,500/month, often a licensed caregiver's actual house with 4–10 residents), memory care (~$6,690/month), CCRCs (every level on one campus), and small-house nursing homes. Most families only ever hear about two of these.
What is a board and care home?
A small licensed residential care setting — often literally a caregiver's house — serving roughly 4 to 10 residents, with help for daily tasks, meals, and a higher caregiver-to-resident ratio than large communities, usually with fewer amenities and a lower price (market medians around $5,500/month for a private room). States license and name them differently (residential care home, adult family home, personal care home).
What is the village movement for seniors?
Member-run neighborhood nonprofits whose annual dues (commonly tens to a few hundred dollars) fund volunteer rides, home repairs, tech help, and social programming so members can age in their own homes. A few hundred villages operate across the U.S.; the Village to Village Network (vtvnetwork.org) keeps the directory.