When you are the one responsible for overseeing the care and wellbeing of an aging loved one, such as a parent or grandparent, you can find yourself easily overwhelmed. From healthcare to mobility concerns, there is so much to bear in mind and take into consideration when you are looking to provide your loved ones with the level of care that is right for them. Readout below to know more about a loved one’s transition to assisted living.
Depending on their personal circumstances and physical capabilities, you might have come to the conclusion that it is time to help your loved one transition to an assisted living community. Not only do such communities offer a range of services that can help your loved one with everything from doing the laundry to ensuring that they are taking the correct medications, but they can also do so in an environment that is still relatively independent for your loved one.
Even though there are so many benefits to transitioning to an assisted living style of living, it isn’t uncommon to receive a degree of pushback when you bring the conversation up with your loved one. The fact of the matter is that there are so many feelings, thoughts, and emotions at play when a senior thinks about making such a change that they can oftentimes simply seek to shut down the conversation in any way they can.
Nevertheless, the health, safety, and wellbeing of your loved one is the top priority. If it is indeed time for them to make the change to an assisted living community, there are a few things that you can do from your end to help ease the transition and make them more comfortable with the prospect of moving.
With that in mind, here are four things that you can do that can help make the transition to an assisted living community easier on your aging loved one.
1. Pick the Right Location
There are many concerns that your loved one might bring up when you try to discuss the transition to an assisted living community with them. For many seniors, the fear that they are simply being set aside by friends and family to reside in such a community far from loved ones is a real concern.
Therefore, you should choose from communities that are in a familiar area and that are located near to you and your loved one’s other friends and family. You might even be able to find a community that allows them to live closer to you than they currently do.
Location is incredibly important when you are selecting an assisted living community for your loved one. Keeping them in a familiar area that is close to you and their other friends and family will go a long way to easing their mind about the move in general.
You can visit website of Frontier Senior Living in order to start your search for the right assisted living community, based on location.
2. Keep Them Involved
For many seniors, another major concern that exists in regard to moving to an assisted living community is the loss of control over their own lives. It can be difficult for a senior to admit that they need help in the first place, but then relinquishing more independence in order to obtain that help is another matter entirely.
You can help them to feel more in control over the entire process by keeping them adequately involved in some of the decisions. For instance, show them pictures and virtual tours of the communities that you have in mind. Bring them along on tours so that they can get a sense of what it might be like to live in a certain community.
It is also important to engage them in the process by encouraging them to ask questions. If they want to have a certain service or amenity available to them in their new home, allow them to ask and inquire about such things themselves. By keeping them involved in any way you can, you can give your loved one a greater sense of control and thus more peace of mind over the transition to an assisted living community.
3. Take on the Bulk of the Work
No matter what stage one is at in life, the idea of moving is always stressful. From all the packing and organizing to the act of selling one’s current home, there are so many points of stress involved in moving to a new home.
Understandably, your loved one might simply be apprehensive about moving to an assisted living community because it involves moving out. Because of this, it is important that you and your other family members take on the bulk of the work associated with moving so that your loved one doesn’t have to stress about it.
Arrange the movers yourself, and handle the sale of their current home if that is something that is necessary to the move. Help them to organize their possessions and decide on what furniture would work best in their new home with them.
By taking over the heavy lifting involved in moving, you can help to bring your loved one to a more comfortable state of mind regarding their move.
4. Listen to Them
Overall, the most important thing that you can do for your loved ones as you are helping them to transition to an assisted living community is to listen to them. Even if they are comfortable with the overall concept of making this change, there will certainly be a number of thoughts and emotions that they are going to experience.
Make sure that they know how valid their feelings are on the matter by listening to them and offering them comfort when they need it. Change is never easy, and it can be even more difficult to accept in one’s later years, even if they know how necessary a change is. Serving as the emotional support that they need at this time will go a long way to making the overall process much easier on your loved one.
