Tips for Helping a Senior Move to Assisted Living
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Planning to move into an assisted living facility can be both exciting and nerve-racking. When an aging senior has reached a point where tending to their own home, keeping it clean, preparing their own meals, and taking care of other aspects of daily life becomes too difficult, assisted living is arguably the best elderly care option available.
Elderly Care Greenville SC – Tips for Helping a Senior Move to Assisted Living
Sure, there are other elderly care choices out there, but none that are going to provide a comfortable living environment surrounded by experienced staff members to help at any time and a host of other seniors they can fellowship with, share time with, and connect with. When an elderly person has decided to move to assisted living, depending on where they live and how long they’ve lived there, the process could be extremely complex.
If you want to help an aging parent or grandparent, aunt or uncle, sibling, or other family member or close friend with this transition for elderly care, let’s talk about a few tips that might help.
1. Ask them how you can assist.
Too often we get caught up in our desire to make sure those loved ones are safe that we never asked them if they actually want our help. Most likely the senior is going to not just want but appreciate assistance with this move, but if you just show up and start moving things around, pulling things down from the attic, donating things to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, or whatever, you could be stepping on a few toes.
It’s easy for elderly men and women to step aside and not say anything, even though they might be extremely upset about the way things are changing. They don’t want to cause a scene and, knowing they probably can’t do this on their own, simply stay quiet.
Instead, ask them how you can help. That empowers the senior and also lets you know where their mode of thinking happens to be at the moment.
2. Start early.
It’s easy to assume there’s plenty of time, but time is a funny thing. It can slip away from you faster than you realize. Before the senior knows it, the move-in date is just a few days away and they look around their home and realize they aren’t even close to ready.
It might be easier if they aren’t selling or don’t have to move out completely for another few weeks after the move into assisted living, but that’s not likely or practical.
The sooner you can get started, and the sooner you stay on track, the less panic there will be as the move-in date fast approaches.
3. Pace yourselves and find out what they can bring.
Sure, you might be able to go at a breakneck pace, but can the senior? Remember, this is his or her life, not yours. Make sure you pace yourself so that you aren’t leaving the elderly individual standing around wondering why their life seems to be slipping away from them, or at least control of it.
Each assisted living room has limited space and there may be specific rules about what they can or can’t bring along with them. Find out what that is early on so you can all have a better concept for move-in day.
