At first, Dakima Jackson wanted to be a dentist. But, to support herself while studying, she got a job at an adult foster care home, and quickly “fell in love with working with seniors.”
She changed career paths, and for her next job, moved to another type of facility: a nursing home.
“Working at the nursing home, I was … just eager to spread myself around,” she said. “I decided that I would work at assisted living as well, because I wanted to know the difference.”
During the week she clocked into the nursing home. Weekends she spent at the assisted living facility.
She found the difference to be pretty big. The assisted living facility had fewer rules, and no staffing requirements. As activities manager, Jackson organized events that wouldn’t fly at the nursing home, like happy hours for the residents.
Jackson learned that many of the differences had to do with licensing; whether a facility is licensed or not determines how it’s regulated. As she worked with more families and residents, Jackson found that many weren’t aware of those distinctions.
“Folks who are in unlicensed assisted living, a lot of times they think that they are a licensed entity,” she said.
