Residential care housing

Residential care housing is meant for senior citizens who need outside assistance on a daily basis.

• In regular residential care housing the senior citizen lives in a rented or owner-occupied apartment and uses the services of the care home as needed.
• In enhanced residential care housing, i.e. group homes for those who are in poor physical health or demented, tenants are offered round-the-clock care.

Residential care housing may be sought through municipal channels or on one's own

Municipalities, organisations and private entrepreneurs offer residential care housing in care homes, group homes or individual residential care apartments.

A municipality may organise social and health services

• by managing their provision on its own
• jointly with another municipality
• by belonging to a Joint Municipal Authority
• by outsourcing them to a public or private service provider
• by providing users of the service with a service voucher

It is also possible to become a self-paying tenant in a care home if the municipality has not reserved all of it for its own use.

Senior housing differs from care homes

Senior housing offers accessible living, but generally without care services. In order to become a tenant in senior housing, one must meet a minimum age requirement set at 55-65 years.

The apartments are either owner-occupied, right-of-occupancy or rental apartments. Senior housing is often constructed close to public services such as a care home, which functions as a service centre. In addition, tenants may purchase services from private home care providers or acquire home care from health centres or the municipal social office.