For those of us who are starting to think about assisted living for someone we care about, separating the facts from the lively imaginations of sales and marketing reps can be a real challenge. Some updated data from a reliable source can be very helpful in evaluating what we hear when we start looking.

The Assisted Living Federation of America, an assisted living industry trade group, recently released some updated assisted living facts and figures. The information in their study is intended for professionals in the business, so we'd like to assume that it's generally reliable. Here's a peek over their shoulders at some illuminating current assisted living data:

Typical Assisted Living Payment Plans

• The most common payment structure in assisted living is "tiered pricing." Tiered pricing usually offers basic room and board services at an entry-level base rate. This is the rate you will be quoted when you first call to ask, "How much?"

Additional services are bundled into "tiers," or "levels" of care. For instance, adding  medication reminders to the base rate might be an additional $XXX per month. Adding help with bathing and dressing might be another $XXX. Incontinent care usually adds another monthly charge, as does dementia care.

Assisted living residences explain their tiered system as being more fair to residents who don't need these services, and who shouldn't have to pay for something they don't use. That's reasonable, as long as you know going in that your costs will certainly rise above the base rate, or your elder probaby wouldn't need to be there in the first place.

• A surprising little piece of information we discovered in this report is that 9% of the participating assisted living residences do not provide three meals as part of their base rate. This is something new to us, and certainly something to watch out for. Be sure to clarify how many meals each facility will provide and whether there will be any extra charges for meals.

Who Lives in Assisted Living?

• There are three women living in assisted living for every man. Look into any A/L dining room and you will see that the ratio is at least this high, so no surprises here.

• The average age of an assisted living resident is now 86.9 years. In 2006 the average age was 85.3.

Many families are shocked when they visit an A/L residence and see residents who are obvious very frail and very old.

They have been looking at brochures with pictures of healthy, active seniors who appear to be in their late 60s. If you've seen pictures such as these, you've been looking at "stock photos," because photos of actual residents are A) not permitted, and B) not good for marketing. Stock photos are offered by graphics providers for use in advertising and marketing materials.

Never let the photographs in brochures influence your choice of facility.

Resident Assessments

• Almost all the A/L facilities surveyed (97%) do a formal assessment of a prospective resident's physical health and functional abilities before move-in. 94% prepare a written service plan or care plan for their residents.

An assessment and care plan will help you to know at what "tier" or "level" the residence will categorize your elder. With this information you will kbnow exactly how much your costs will be. What you want to watch for is that this care plan with costs is completed before your senior moves in. The physical assessment alone is not enough if you need to budget.

Criminals Working in Assisted Living

• It is very satisfying to see that 97% of all the participating facilities now conduct a criminal background check on every single employee before hiring. Make sure that any facility you're looking at doesn't fall in the 3% who don't.

All in all it appears that the assisted living market is maturing at the same rate their residents are aging. It still continues to be imperative that you use your common sense and ask the right questions before you make a committment.

If you are interested in reading the complete 2009 Overview of Assisted Living, it is available at the Assisted Living Federation of America website for $125.

*Upper right photo by "faceless b"