Maintaining Independence While Getting The Help Needed Through Assisted Living
For many older adults, the thought of going into a retirement or nursing home is just not something they want to do. Even if they need some assistance from day to day, most people want to be as independent as possible and make some of the day-to-day decisions for their own life. One option for many of these older adults is to go into an assisted living facility and maintain some freedom.
What Is Assisted Living?
A true assisted living facility is not a nursing home but a community where people can live semi-independently while getting help with basic tasks that they may have trouble with. Many of these communities have small apartments for the residents and provide help with things like cooking, medication management, shopping, transportation to and from doctors appointments, bathing if needed, and even dressing in the morning if needed. The intention of assisted living is to provide long-term support for the seniors living there. It is not nursing care or hospice care. There are different facilities that handle that level of care better.
Finding the Right Assisted Living Facility
Not every facility is the same, and some offer more care, while others offer more independence. Finding the one that is the right fit for your loved one is important. They need to feel comfortable there. After all, it is going to be their new home, not yours. Get them involved in the search, and find out what they would like to have available, but understand that they may not realize what they need for care, so it will be up to you to make sure they get a good balance of both. You may not find one place that has everything, but if they are happy and you feel they will get the care they need, that might be the perfect fit.
Checking The Facility Out Before Committing To It
Before you decide on an assisted living facility for your loved one, take a tour of the facility and the accommodations that they offer. If you can just stop and visit, you will get a better picture of the care available at the facility but you might not always be able to do that. You can also check the reviews from other families that have used this facility online for a clear picture of the care and quality of life offered. Keep in mind that not all reviews are honest, but if a facility has a lot of negative reviews and very few good ones, you might want to ask them about it. Once your loved one has moved in, it is a lot of work to move them again.
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