Looking to increase their business without having to build new facilities and to attract residents, a growing number of companies that run assisted-living or nursing homes are offering an array of nonmedical services to elderly people who want to remain in their houses.

Among the offerings: trained caregivers who help with daily tasks and plan activities to keep a senior's mind active -- as well as access to services and events at the retirement facilities themselves, such as meals, gyms, classes and field trips. Some companies even promise that their home-care clients will get preferential treatment in securing a live-in spot at facilities that have long waiting lists.

The services can be pricey. Most of the companies jumping into the home-care field specialize in high-end assisted-living facilities, which typically cater to relatively able-bodied seniors and offer luxurious surroundings and an array of social opportunities. Now, they are trying to target a similar clientele with their home-care services: well-off individuals who need companionship and help with daily activities -- but not skilled nursing -- and who have private long-term-care insurance or can afford to pay for the services out-of-pocket. Because these services are nonmedical, Medicare doesn't cover them.

The emerging trend is being driven, in part, by the desire of most people to stay in their own homes. A 2005 study conducted by AARP, the advocacy and research group, found that 89 percent of people who are 50 years old and older want to remain at home as long as possible. Geriatricians increasingly believe that older people who stay in their own homes do better both emotionally and physically than those who live in nursing homes or other senior-living facilities.

For the assisted-living facilities, which often have occupancy rates as high as 95 percent to 100 percent, branching into home-care services is a "no-brainer," says David Goodman, president of the New York-based Companion Connection Senior Care, which offers training to home-care companies. "They don't have to invest in bricks and mortar," he says. "They have access to this clientele that gives them immediate and future revenue, and they don't have to let them slip through their fingers."

Last December, Intercontinental Services, which operates six assisted-living facilities in the San Francisco Bay area, launched a new unit, Chateau Home Care. In addition to its trained caregivers, the company touts its personalized care plans, which include tasks such as bathing and dressing as well as activities designed to stimulate the mind, such as memory games and art projects.

Seniors who sign up with Chateau Home Care can also use the amenities at one of the company's assisted-living campuses, including painting, gardening and exercise classes, field trips, concerts and lectures. (One recent talk was given by Princess Diana's former assistant.) They get transportation to and from these events and a discount on chef-prepared meals, which they can eat in the dining room or have delivered home. Home-care clients who put down a $250 deposit get on the priority waiting list for a spot in one of the assisted-living homes, and get a 10 percent to 15 percent discount on the hourly home-care rate of $22 to $24.

"If we can take care of them in their homes, then when the need arises for assisted living it will be our hope we will be their choice," says Jeffrey Dillon, Chateau Home Care's chief operating officer. The company plans to expand to all six of the areas where it has facilities by 2008.

Sunrise Senior Living -- one of the nation's largest assisted-living companies, with 380 facilities across the country -- began providing home-care services in 1999. So far this year, its home-care division has served 3,000 home clients in nine cities, a 20 percent growth rate over the same period in 2005. It's looking to expand services into California, Texas and New Jersey.

The push to market home-care services comes as the residential-care industry is stagnating. After growing 30 percent between 1998 and 2000, the number of residential-care facilities remained flat between 2002 and 2004, the most recent data available, as the companies that run these homes struggle to find financing and suitable land for new developments in densely populated areas. Yet the elderly population is growing: In 2003, there were 36 million Americans who were 65 and older; by 2030, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that the 65-plus population will grow to 71 million.

Silverado Senior Living, which is based in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and runs 14 high-end assisted-living facilities in California, Texas and Utah, started its home-care division in 2004 after surveying the potential customers who toured its homes and discovering that many of them went on to receive home care instead. Now, the company has about 200 home-care clients in Orange County, Calif.; San Diego; and Houston, and plans to branch out to Salt Lake City and Plano, Texas, in 2007.

Silverado offers its home-care clients the same classes and outings arranged by its assisted-living facilities, and says that the training it gives its caregivers sets it apart from many other home-care providers. The company, which specializes in dementia care, pairs each client with a professional geriatric-care manager -- typically a social worker -- who makes an initial assessment and develops a care plan, which includes activities designed to foster independence, such as bird-watching and gardening.

All these services don't come cheap -- and the only insurance that the companies say they accept for home care is long-term-care insurance, which means most people are paying out-of-pocket. Hourly rates range from $16 to $24, depending on the region of the country; daily rates can run up to $240, which rivals the cost of living in a high-end assisted-living home.

Chateau Home Care charges between $22 and $24 an hour for home care and $240 a day for live-in help, which costs less than hiring a skilled nurse but can cost more than living in one of their facilities, which runs between $4,000 to $7,000 a month. Silverado charges $21 to $24 for hourly home care and $240 to $270 a day for live-in help, compared with $5,000 to $10,000 a month to live in one of its residential homes.

For Les Wolf, the cost is well worth it. The 69-year-old retired financial manager, who lives in Weston, Conn., recently arranged for a $225-a-day home health aide from the Jewish Home for the Elderly, in nearby Fairfield, to move in to his home and help him care for his wife, Jane, who is 65 years old and is suffering from esophageal cancer. Mrs. Wolf recently spent some time in the Jewish Home's rehab unit after being hospitalized, but wanted to come home. The next logical step, according to Mr. Wolf, was to hire one of the facility's home-care workers to watch over her when he can't. "I trust them," he says. "The quality is good and I was satisfied with how they treated my wife," though she has since returned to the hospital.

The 50 current clients of the Jewish Home's home-care business -- launched a year and a half ago and called Compassionate Care Companions -- can use the facilities of the home, such as the gym and recreation center, religious services, adult day care and a beauty salon. In addition, they can attend concerts and lectures at the home, and even take their meals there.

One side benefit of the home-care service is the option to hold a place on the nursing home's waiting list, which can be as long as six months. "The second they come on board they're in the system," says Christina Ciminello, coordinator of the Institute on Aging at the Jewish Home. "They can stay at the top of the list until whenever they're ready."