When considering relocating to an assisted living community your prospective residents will have emotions of all kinds. Many seniors are nervous about the prospect and their adult children may have feelings of guilt. Your residential assisted living home can defuse all the awkward feelings with the right information. Some seniors are seeking independence from living with adult children but still unsure about senior living. There are those seniors who live independently, but that has become an unsafe option.
The list can be endless, but the benefits of residing in an assisted living home or senior living community are numerous. From pre-planning and packing to unpacking and settling in, hiring packing and moving services can make all the difference in your move experience.
First, let’s examine what assisted living really entails.
WHAT IS ASSISTED LIVING?
Today, assisted living homes are constantly morphing themselves to better serve a demanding demographic. You may take a look at their assisted living plans to check out the various models and styles they have.
Baby Boomers are bombing assisted living and mandate activity. They do not want to sit and chat casually. They want to dance, shop, watch movies, play sports, or engage in any other activity that will satisfy the need to engage.
Big box assisted living facilities are struggling to satisfy the incoming Baby Boomers. These communities are for those who can care for themselves but need assistance with certain activities of daily living.
Residents are typically mobile and frequently engaged in daily activities. Assistance comes in the forms of:
- Linen and laundry service
- Holistic dining
- Fitness classes
- Day trips to the mall or elsewhere
Specialized assisted living homes may offer:
- Stroke care
- Memory care
- Physical rehabilitation
All assisted living homes even the Sabal Palms assisted living are equipped to help with activities of daily living. These activities are tasks associated with personal care and include:
- Grooming
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Toileting assistance
- Eating
Besides these, today’s assisted living home must create a community atmosphere. Baby Boomers are community-driven, not as solitary as their predecessors are.
They want to be involved with decisions pertaining to the operations of the home, as well as what activities should be offered.
Baby Boomers will get involved, even where owners may not want their involvement. They are a riotous generation, but sincere and passionate all the same.
Now, Baby Boomers need assisted living as an option for their golden years. They resist the big box facilities, viewing them as sterile places for the sick and feeble.
Baby Boomers are active, vivacious, rowdy, and caring.
Make your residential assisted living home a place where aging generations can be comfortable to call it home. Be sure your prospective residents know the benefits of senior living in an assisted living home.
The independence Baby Boomers crave is abundant in the assisted living home. Share these benefits with your prospects and watch as their anxieties are eased.
THE BENEFITS OF MOVING INTO AN ASSISTED LIVING HOME
Health and wellness are more than physical. It is emotional and spiritual as well. Baby Boomers crave the emotional just as much as the physical.
Assisted living homes are designed to meet these needs equally. Today, Americans are living longer than at any other time.
Life expectancy has extended to the point where it is not uncommon to find a centurion in a home.
The time for one to relocate may vary, but the reasons are typically the same:
- Loneliness
- Recent Health Crisis
- Nutrition Concerns
- Memory Challenges
Let’s look at these reasons and contemplate what the assisted living homeowner can do to satisfy them.
1. Feelings of Isolation or Loneliness
Loneliness is a real problem with today’s seniors. Many of their adult children live some distance from them due to work opportunities. As friends and spouses pass away, many are left alone with minimal interaction. Assisted living homes offer a sharp contrast to this isolation.
- A home, not a facility
- A home with occupants
- Community atmosphere and communal purpose
The assisted living home in and of itself can solve many health problems associated with isolation. The assisted living home can be a treatment for depression associated with isolation. It can also be a tonic for anxiety, calming concerns with company and comfort. Loneliness is a problem for seniors that can be resolved by relocating to an assisted living home. At a time in their life when friends may be passing away, seniors can have the opportunity to make new friends. Moving into an assisted living home can be akin to going to a new school as a child. It is a fresh start with new people, who like you, are facing challenges in their lives. Together, residents learn how to support one another, rally to one another’s cry, and push one another forward with encouragement. This is the reason why the overall health profile of residents in assisted living homes is better than those living alone at home. When moving into one, seniors can get help from professionals such as movers to make moving easier. It would also help to use high quality packing materials like boxes, mailing tubes, bubble wrap, and packing tape to protect your belongings while in transit.
2. A Recent Health Crisis
Families become quite concerned about a fall. The list can be lengthy, but concerns are quite prevalent:
- Has a senior recently visited your home who suffered a stroke?
- Has a friend communicated concerns about their mother’s memory?
- What about a diagnosis of osteoporosis?
Health crises often force a family to consider and relocate a senior member to an assisted living home. While the family may be under stress, upon visiting your home they should leave at ease. An assisted living homeowner does not want a family to feel pressured. It is best to alleviate their concerns about their senior’s health, and make their placement one of confidence, not desperation.
3. Nutrition Concerns
“I’m just not hungry,” are the words many adult children hear from their aging parents. These words are frightening, especially when the parent lives alone. Poor nutrition results in poor health. Assisted living homeowners should ensure dietary plans are appetizing and effective for seniors with appetite challenges. Proper nutrition becomes even more paramount in the wake of health crises or chronic conditions. Diabetes, heart disease, Osteoporosis, Hormonal deficiencies all require nutrition as the foundation of therapy. Often the requirements for proper nutrition are near impossible for family members to provide. Therefore, the safest option for many seniors with nutrition challenges is assisted living homes. One of the many ways an assisted living home improves nutrition is with nutrient-packed shakes. Sometimes eating is a challenge, especially if dental work needs to be done with the help of experienced dentists at Pacific Dental & Implant Solutions. Allowing seniors to choose what ingredients they desire in their meals is empowering. Providing these types of choices and comforts increase satisfaction and independence for a senior reluctant about relocating into an assisted living home.
4. Memory Challenges
It is the greatest fear of millions – dementia. Whether it be Alzheimer’s, Vascular, or Lewy Body, dementia ravishes the memories of millions. Dementia creates an incredible challenge for many families, which they often struggle to meet. An assisted living home focused on memory care will certainly be one without vacancy. The increasing number of seniors over the next 20 years is causing a tsunami effect in senior housing. While dementia may affect a senior’s ability to remember, it does not preclude them from movement. Assisted living homes equipped to safely house and contain dementia patients will relieve many adult children seeking a place for their demented parent.
Activities Associated with Dementia Care
- Dressing
- Many dementia diagnoses come because a senior has misdressed themself. Clothes may be turned inside out, put on backward, or not put on at all.
- Toileting
- Incontinence is also a great concern for many family members of a dementia patient. The idea of using Depends or some other adult diaper can be daunting and traveling with a dementia patient who may have a “mistake” is embarrassing for the family and the dementia patient.
- Grooming
- Dementia residents need assistance in preparing themselves as they often forget to do so.
- Eating
- Dementia patients often forget to eat or eat too much of the same food. This results in poor nutrition and can compromise their health. Cooking may also be a danger as the patient may forget they are doing so and fires in the home can happen.
- Financial Management
- Poor financial management is often a sign of dementia. Some dementia patients forget to pay bills, make large rash payments, or show signs of suspicion pertaining to finances that are unfounded.
- Driving
- In short, dementia patients often get lost when driving about the community. Sometimes, these people can go unfound for more than 24 hours resulting in an all-points bulletin to search for them. Once a family experiences this and their beloved senior is found, they often feverishly look for a safe place.
An assisted living home equipped for dementia residents is able to support these functions. Care staff that is highly specialized can support a dementia resident without reservation. This is yet another way assisted living homes such as the Summerfield Memory Care of Fresno can ease family concerns and provide a great service to residents suffering from dementia. Visit sites like crescendoseniorliving.com/services/ to see options.
WHY IS MOVING TO ASSISTED LIVING BETTER FOR SENIOR HEALTH?
Relocating into an assisted living home is more than beneficial to your health. Choosing to live your senior years in an assisted living home is freedom.
Residents are unburdened of:
- Home Ownership
- Car Maintenance
- Hosting Family Events
- Baby-sitting grandchildren for prolonged periods
In assisted living, residents are free to have fun. A day in the life of a resident in an assisted living home might include:
- A gentle awakening in the morning and any assistance needed with preparation.
- A warm well-prepared breakfast to the resident’s liking (and need).
- Morning activities such as organized walks or aerobics.
- Physical and Occupation therapy brought to the home.
- Healthy snacks throughout the day
- Appetizing well-prepared lunch aligned nutrition plan.
- Activities and outings per the activity director.
- Relaxation or outdoor gardening.
- Personal projects, as one might experience in their private home.
- Dinner per nutrition plan but appetizing and curtailed to the needs of the resident.
- Night-time movie.
- Evening dinner dance for the holidays.
- Support with bathing and preparation for retiring to bed.
PEACE OF MIND FOR RESIDENTS AND ASSISTED LIVING HOME OWNERS
What is it that makes the assisted living home the preferred senior living option for Baby Boomers?
The reality is the assisted living home gives its residents and their families peace of mind, which includes:
- Independence
- Safety
- Great food
- Close in proximity to the family
If memory is a challenge, the assisted living home gives a dignified safe environment. If a recent health crisis has transpired, the assisted living home gives specialized critical care. It also helps residents to regain strength and independence.
If loneliness and isolation are a problem – residential assisted living is a great way to create a new family in a neighborhood home setting.
The assisted living homeowner must recognize that potential residents and their families are afraid. It is always their preference to reside at home or with an adult child – circumstances beyond their control have precluded that from happening.
Restore power to your prospects, by sharing this information, showing them this information in action, and empowering them to finally make a choice.
Visit www.RALNA.org to learn more about owning and operating a successful assisted living business. It’s easy to join for free and get all the information you need at no cost.
