By: Heather Souve
We know how you feel about senior living; the stereotypes people think of and the general perception of “nursing homes.”
Senior living homes are a place people want to avoid – or avoid thinking about. Unfortunately, it is that mentality that leads so many seniors and their families to a crisis state. They don’t get help until they absolutely need it. All they really know is that they don’t want their parent to move.
This mentality NEEDS to change.
Destroy All Expectations
If you’re looking into senior living for the first time, it’s best to go into without any expectations.
Think of it like a movie. When you go into a movie with high expectations of what you want it to be, then the movie is already at an unfair advantage and won’t live up to your expectations. Conversely, if you have low expectations, then you may never see the movie to begin with… or you’ll be completely blown away by its amazingness.
The fact is, senior care homes have come a LONG way since their inception. Many aren’t even isolated, but in the middle of the cities and neighborhoods. There’s no shortage of socializing and activity – not just among the other residents, but the locals as well!
What senior care does today, is simple. They make living for seniors easy – heck, they make living for anybody easy.
What Senior Living Communities Provide
Most often we’re approached by adult children looking to help their parents. Many of these adult children fall in the sandwich generation, people who are raising their kids (i.e. needing to fund college) and now take care of their parents as well.
To them especially, I say, “Imagine you came home to a freshly cleaned house and meals prepared when you were done with work and running errands?” Most agree it sounds like a paradise. So many modern adult children skip breakfast or eat out simply because they don’t have time to prepare meals.
What senior living does is eliminate all those chores and strenuous responsibilities. Seniors move to a location where their meals are prepared for them; the house is cleaned for them; laundry is done for them; transportation is done for them; bills are paid for them. For more delicate seniors, bathing and feeding are even done for them. This is not degrading, mind you, this is being treated like royalty.
It’s when families tour the senior homes with us that they finally see what they’ve been missing. And, because we personally vet the communities, we know this isn’t a show for tourists, but this is year-round.
Not many people make the choice to move voluntarily, but some do because they want retirement to feel like a vacation. For instance, we had one senior come to us so that she could downsize from maintaining a home and move into a retirement community where she could remain independent and have less responsibilities. She ended up choosing an assisted living community – despite a limited income – that was no more than a few minutes walking distance to the local shopping in Renton, an art center, the Black River Riparian forest, Farmer’s Market, and what’s more, she was closer to her daughter.
You always have the choice to make senior living an opportunity for freedom, growth, and happiness. Don’t miss out!
