An elderly woman walks slowly through the hallway of her assisted living residence, nodding to neighbours she has come to know over months of morning walks. She cannot manage fully independently anymore - meals are prepared, medications monitored, help available if she falls - but she maintains her own apartment, her privacy, her autonomy. This is not a nursing home. She chose this. A couple considers options for the husband's mother, whose dementia has progressed beyond safe independent living but not to the point of requiring nursing home care.