Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) provide both housing and health care for the elderly, in addition to emphasizing social involvement and community life.

A CCRC is intended to supply a continuum of care throughout the lifetime of its elderly residents. It does so by maintaining an assortment of on-site medical and social services and facilities. This allows residents to enter into the community while still relatively healthy and then move on to more intensive care as it becomes necessary.

This article originally appeared on McKnight's