Assisted living: challenges for nursing practice

There can be no doubt about that, as the elderly population increases, there is a need to provide alternative models of housing and health care. The elderly have become a vocal group, defining their needs and demanding their rights. New models of care, such as assisted living, allow elders to age in place, and nurses are called upon to adapt to the challenges of practice. We need to be responsive to the changing needs of the elderly population, to alter the directive focus of our practice to a more assistive model, and we must look at our practice itself to determine what changes need to take place to promote aging with maximum independence.