Home, Community and Residential Care Services for Seniors

Home and Community Support Services

Home and community support services can help you manage your own care while living at home. You may want to investigate one of these services, or a combination of services. There are four main categories of Home and Community Support Services:

• Visiting Health Professional Services
  Visiting health professional services provide health care in your home. Before providing care, these services will usually visit your home to assess your needs and make a care plan. Some supplies and equipment may be available through these programs as well.
• Personal Care and Support
  Personal care and support services can help you with a variety of routine daily living activities such as bathing, dressing, toileting, eating and more.
• Homemaking
  Homemaking services assist you with routine household activities such as menu planning and meal preparation, shopping, light housekeeping and more.
• Community Support Services
  Community support services include a wide variety of services such as meal delivery, transportation, caregiver relief, adult day programs, social and recreational services, security checks and more.

See the Care in Your Home page for more information.

Residential Care

Residential care services provide a place for seniors to live, and offer different types and levels of support. In Ontario, there are three main types of residential care:

• Supportive Housing
  Supportive housing is for seniors who need minimal to moderate levels of personal care and support to live independently. Many locations have rent-geared-to-income subsidies available.
• Retirement Homes
  Retirement Homes are privately owned, and provide accommodations for seniors who need minimal to moderate levels of personal care and support to live independently. Retirement Homes are funded entirely by resident fees.
• Long-Term Care Homes
  Long-Term Care Homes are designed for people who need access to 24-hour nursing care, supervision or higher levels of personal care. These homes are also known as nursing homes, municipal homes for the aged, or charitable homes. Residents pay for accommodation charges and the care is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

the Residences Offering Care page for more information.

Arranging care for yourself or a family member will involve a number of steps. This section of the website describes the process for arranging care, and the role you can play in the process. See the Arranging Care page for more details.

Your local Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) can help. CCACs are provincially-funded agencies that provide Long-Term Care information and referral services in your area. The information is provided free of charge. To locate the CCAC nearest you, use our CCAC Locator.

This section outlines how to gather the information you need and select the right service provider for you or your loved one. It also includes a Long-Term Care Home Locator and links to provincial organizations that can help you locate local home and community service providers. See the Finding a Provider page for more details.