Calling It Home: Helping Your Senior Choose A Supported Living Facility?

Answer 1

You love them, respect them, and want the best for them but sometimes a senior family member needs more care than you can provide. Choosing a safe, attractive, facility for our elderly loved-ones takes time and energy and requires patience. Additionally, the emotional cost of helping your senior transition to a new stage in his or her life is sometimes high.

The facility you choose will never be as good as your senior’s opinion of his or her former home. You may feel a measure of guilt because your elderly family member is leaving a place that he or she loves, but realize that you cannot change your loved one’s feelings. You might, however, be able to make the transition easier by finding a good facility that fits his or her senior care needs.

Choosing a senior care facility is like finding a good match. Part of this match is to connect your senior with a facility that feels comfortable and like home to your loved one. Some facilities encourage social interaction and some are better suited to those who want to live independently with limited additional medical or personal care assistance. Depending on your loved one’s needs and level of care required, there are options available.

If you look at the variety of programs available, they work on a spectrum of care. There are facilities that offer care during the day while you are at work, commonly referred to as day care programs for elderly adults. There are facilities that look much like an apartment complex, offering nursing and home care services on an as needed basis that is usually 24 hours per day. These are commonly referred to as senior apartments. There are facilities that offer more intensive nursing care and have personel available around the clock and monitor the residents regularly, offering assistance with dressing, getting out of bed, bathing, taking medications, and mobility. These facilities are commonly referred to as nursing homes.

Regardless of the level of care your senior needs, there are facilities that are clean, friendly, affordable, and reliable available in your area. Undoubtably, it is a difficult decision to make and it should be made carefully. With the help of social services agencies, the facilities, and your senior, you can make the transition to a senior care facility a good transition. You can make it home.