A retirement home[1] is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some form of health or hospice care. The level of facilities varies between facilities. A place in a retirement home can be paid for on a rental basis, like an apartment, or can be bought in perpetuity on the same basis as a condominium.
A retirement home differs from a nursing home primarily in the level of medical care given. Retirement villages and retirement communities, unlike retirement homes, offer separate and autonomous homes for residents.
The number of retirement homes has been increasing in the United States, from almost 11,000 in 2005 to 12,000 in 2010. The market size for retirement homes has had a much greater growth rate, from $13.5 billion in 2005 to $17 billion in 2010, with California being the American state with the largest market size.[2]
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