Helping Loved Ones Adjust To The Move
The move into an assisted living community can be stressful and even frightening. Many older adults fear that they’ll be forgotten and alone. Adult children can play a critical role in helping relatives adjust successfully. First, understand and acknowledge that this is a life-changing move. Reassure your loved ones that they won’t be left alone.
When the big day arrives, have family members help pack up mom and dad and move together. Make it a celebration, perhaps with a brunch before the move. Let them know that nearby loved ones will visit frequently and that those living farther away will stay in touch regularly. Make good on those promises.
How Do You Move An Unwilling Parent To Assisted Living
It might not necessarily be that your senior parent is fully against living in an assisted living community. They just dont want to feel like theyre being forced into it.
As we mentioned in the intro, there are some steps you can take to soften your approach so your parent might be more willing to hear you out.
No One Is Denied Residency Due To Their Financial Situation While Woodridge Is A Private Pay Facility Financial Assistance Is Available And The Facility Accepts Medicaid Payments
A member of WoodRidges staff is available to assist with the entire admission process including the financial paperwork and applying for aid. For those who receive Medicaid WoodRidge offers the ideal alternative to assisted living care. At WoodRidge, you will maintain your independence while residing in an upscale comfortable facility surrounded by your peers and receive quality services combined with all the amenities of home. For more information about the financial aid process, please log onto to: www.hfs.illinois.gov
620 Olivia Drive
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What To Do If Only One Parent Is Moving To Assisted Living
In all too many cases, a couple must separate after decades of living together, because one partner needs more care than the other person can provide. Its not only hard on the couple, it can be devastating for adult children who want to help but feel helpless dealing with this forced separation. Fortunately, there are things you can do to ease the trauma.
Before anyone moves out, talk to your parents about the ways they can keep in touch. For instance, the at-home partner might be able to eat dinner or lunch at the assisted living community with their spouse. Another alternative is for them to join their loved one for an on-site activity like cards or a sing-along. If your parent no longer drives, arrange in advance for a loved one or a paid caregiver to drive, so they get time together. Even if its brief, at least they talk a bit, kiss good-bye, and off one of them goes, says Mary Koffend, president and CEO of Accountable Aging Care Management.
Of course, your parents might want some time for a little more than a brief kiss. Although physical intimacy might be a little awkward to address Koffend encourages adult children to have a straightforward conversation with the communitys administrators about arranging alone-time for the couple. Keep in mind that the community might be liable for falls or health issues that occur under their watch. Address concerns and see if you can set fair boundaries.
For Many Transitioning Back Into The Community Is Possible
by Cynthia Ramnarace, AARP Bulletin, February 7, 2011
For eight years, Thomas Smallwood got around relatively well for a man with no legs. Poor circulation had led Smallwood, 63 at the time, to a difficult choice: his legs or his life. He chose the latter. You don’t need legs to be a man, he thought. The man makes the legs.
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Assisted Living Should Not Be Stressing You Out
Your move into Assisted Living in Geneseo/Illinois is supposed to make life easier.
The whole purpose of assisted living is to improve life by removing stress. But finding the right assisted living for you and your family in IL, is anything but stress free.
If youve already looked into senior living on your own, youve probably realized that its hard to even figure out where to start. Finding a Gem, such as WoodRidge Supportive Living, Henry , IL our recommended facility in this article is a mammoth challenge.
To begin, there are quite literally over 82 assisted living facilities in Henry and each one is unique.
Once youve come up with a list of facilities in, Geneseo, you get to start investigating them.
- What kind of medical assistance do they provide?
- Are the facilities clean?
- How Many residents are there?
- What kind of living spaces are available?
- What is the Staff to Resident Ratio?
- How Much does Living Cost?
- The list goes on from here
For example, WoodRidge Supportive Living facility offers:
- Assisted Living
Among a number of other services aimed at improving your quality of life.
Strategies To Smooth The Transition
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Visit the Community Before the Move
Visit the assisted living community as often as possible before moving day to help your relative get to know some residents and staff.
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Eat Meals With the Person You’re Assisting
Eat meals with your parent at the assisted living community before and after the move.
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Throw a Party on Arrival
Throw a house-warming party and decorate your parent’s new space with cherished keepsakes, books, family photos, and perhaps some new items like throw pillows, a comforter or window treatments.
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Accentuate the Positive
Accentuate the positives of your parent’s new home like big common areas, regular activities and outings, and help with chores and daily living tasks.
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Encourage Involvement in Activities
Get your parent involved in activities like bingo and movie night soon after move-in. Ask the facility’s management to introduce your loved one to other residents.
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Indulge Interests if Possible
Talk to the staff about letting your parent indulge her interests, like letting her spend time in the kitchen if she loves cooking or planting flowers and vegetables if gardening’s a hobby.
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Use Modern Communications Technology
Ask staffers to arrange Skype, Facetime or Snapchat sessions for your parent to help them stay in touch with family and friends.
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Prepare For Moving Day
For most people, moving into an assisted living facility and leaving a home they have lived in for years can be overwhelming. There will be lots of emotions and unknowns for you and your parents.
Here are four ways you can help make moving day go more smoothly for you and your loved one.
Expect Emotions
Moving a parent to assisted living can be a tough transition. Do not be surprised if everyone involved experiences some intense emotions.
Your parents may mourn:
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The passing of their younger years
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Their independence
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Nearby friends and neighbors or
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The home they built.
They may be afraid of:
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Aging
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Having to depend on the kindness of strangers or
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Finding their way in a new place.
There’s a good chance you are mourning all of them as well. Perhaps you are stressed and second-guessing yourself.
You may be asking yourself:
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Were we too quick to act?
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Did we overreact?
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Did we wait too long?
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Was this the best facility choice for Mom or Dad?
There will be guilt it is inevitable, but, please know that all of these feelings are normal and do not last forever.
Determine Your Parents Role
Be sure to have your parents’ role in moving day planned out.
You should ask your parents where they would like to be and what they would like to do on moving day as you plan the move.
Do they want to direct the action from the comfort of their easy chair? If not, have a family member keep them busy throughout the day. Your loved one may enjoy:
Create a Plan
To do this, you can:
Make it Special
Decide What To Do With The Current Home
Seniors need to start by thinking of what they are going to do with their current living space or house. Some may opt to let their children or grandchildren stay and look after the residence. Others prefer to rent out the home so that they can be getting monthly income to pay for assisted living. Some senior adults decide that selling the house is the best option.
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The Healthcare Matches The Looks
One of the biggest pitfalls people face when choosing assisted living is appearances.
As noted in our blog on mistakes to avoid when choosing assisted living, families are often sold on appearances that arent backed by well trained staff, proper assisted living options and excellent healthcare.
This isnt the case with WoodRidge Supportive Living/Illinois.
The management have ensured that WoodRidge Supportive Living/Illinois is staffed with the highest quality applicants. These individuals understand the importance of independence for you or your loved ones. Whether you wish to live a fully independent life or need some assistance with your Daily activities, WoodRidge Supportive Living staff is committed to helping you live your own, individual lifestyle.
Regarding healthcare, WoodRidge Supportive Living/Illinois provides all of the typical basics like prescription management and a wellness program. The staff is also trained to provide care for those suffering memory loss. So theres no need to worry for your loved ones care.
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Creating An Effective Legal Plan
Before loved ones’ move to assisted living, it’s important to make sure that their affairs are in order and that serious matters are addressed in written documents. For instance, who is designated to make decisions if acute health conditions emerge? Who will handle mom’s finances if she is incapacitated? Who will make certain that the proper documents pertaining to mom’s treatment wishes get into the hands of doctors, assisted living facilities, family members and attorneys?
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Tips When Using Movers:
- Reputation is key – get referrals
- Get written estimates – not guesstimates
- YOU pack valuables – do not entrust outside help to pack treasures
- Take written inventory – before – during – after. Pack early
- Recruit Help from Friends and Family
Moving a senior loved one from their home is a big job. So, enlist friends and other family members to help. The younger family members can help out too. It may require adults to take some time off from their jobs to help out but it is vital that you recruit muscle and support.
Openly Discuss The Move
Two most common rules that people ignore:
Regardless of what type of care or living arrangement your parent is in need of home care, assisted living, apartment living, it’s very important that they be included in the conversation.
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How To Discuss Moving To Assisted Living With Your Aging Parent
You might be happy to find out that assisted living retirement communities for people in their golden years provide a plethora of exceptional services and features. However, you need to discuss moving to assisted living with your loved ones beforehand. This discussion is not easy, but it should be done at the right time. At the end of the day, you definitely want the best for your parents and assisted living communities can be of great help for people in their golden years.
If youre not sure how to approach this conversation then you should keep reading this article. Youll discover a few pieces of advice on how to bring this discussion up in a positive and constructive way.
Do The Assisted Living Facilities Have Memory Care Units
It is common for seniors to experience memory care issues like dementia and Alzheimers. When looking for the ideal senior living community, it is crucial to make sure that they have separate areas where such a population receives appropriate care to ensure that they are happy and enjoy utmost comfort, even when they have memory care problems.
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Signs Someone Needs Assisted Living
If you’re not certain whether the time has come for a loved one to transition to assisted living, experts say to watch for certain telltale signs.
Telltale Signs Assisted Living Is Needed
- Difficulty with bathing, dressing, taking medications and other daily tasks
- Coping with accidents, especially slips and falls
- Slow recovery from illness or experiencing a worsening chronic health condition
- Big changes in weight gain or loss, along with increasing frailty
- Unkempt appearance or neglecting personal hygiene
- Becoming noticeably less social
Readily Available And Safe Transportation
When driving becomes unsafe, or car ownership becomes too much of a hassle, assisted living communities offer reliable transportation to local shopping, dining, events, and doctor appointments. No more shoveling the car out of snow, de-icing the windshield, or driving through heavy rains. Trusted transportation gets residents where they need to go when they need to go.
Avoid a dangerous situation, or just the hassle of home ownership, by moving into assisted living. Let the staff to get you where you need to go safely and on time.
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Changing Demands Of Care
As care needs change and become demanding, assisted living staff has a hard time meeting those needs. Residents find that they need a different type of care home.
Sometimes an assisted living facility evict residents whose medical care needs exceed the level of care that the facility can provide. That’s when a resident needs a nursing home level of care, the facility arranges the move to a suitable care home.
Sometimes a resident moves in with the hopes that Medicaid will pay the bill. But facility representatives will require them to pay privately for a year before going on Medicaid. It’s called a “duration of stay” contract and it is neither allowed nor enforceable under the Medicaid rules. While not all assisted living and residential care facilities take part in the Medicaid program, those that do must follow state rules.
If the resident’s private or Medicaid funds run out, a facility has the legal right to evict a resident for non-payment. This applies to a nursing home as well as an assisted living facility.
When asked by CDC: How many residents moved out of the residential care facility over the past 12 months? 41% of them said 1 resident moved out, 23% of the facilities reported 2 to 3 residents moved out, while 20% of them reported 11 or residents moved out in 12 months.
Over the last 12 months, how many residents moved out of this facility? Exclude someone who has moved out if the facility is currently holding a bed for the resident. Exclude deaths.
How To Move A Parent To Assisted Living: A Complete Guide To Making A Smooth Transition
Even if they are consenting, moving a parent into assisted living is difficult. There will be a lot of decisions to make, and they will all be accompanied by emotions.
Are you wondering how to move your parents into assisted living? Are you feeling overwhelmed by all of the choices you have to make? If that’s the case, keep reading.
This article will give you tips, such as:
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Determining a budget
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Talking with your parent and
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How to prepare for moving day
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A Comprehensive Checklist For Moving To Assisted Living
The move to assisted living can be daunting, given the degree of planning required and number of details to manage. Its normal to feel in over your head. However, you can make the move far less intimidating when you approach it with the proper resources and support.
If you or your loved one have decided on an assisted living community, youve already taken a major step. The next phase of the transition is to plan for and carry out the move.
The best way to approach a move to assisted living is by breaking things down into steps. Weve compiled multiple checklists of tips for moving to assisted living, broken down by category. Click the list items or scroll further down in this article for more information about each tip.
Hard Truth About Moving Your Parents Into Assisted Living #: It May Not Even Be An Option
After you figure out if they can afford it, youll need to find a place that offers what they need. In some cases, your parents may already need more care than an assisted living facility can provide. This could be the case if they need medical care like blood monitoring or injections for diabetes. Or if they need memory care and the community they choose does not offer it. There isnt a national standard that defines what services an assisted living community offers, so try to be clear about what your parents need. Ask questions to verify whats included in the monthly fee
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Is There A Problem
The ultimate goal for everyone involved should be finding a home where the senior feels at home and enjoys living in and has the proper individual care. If you decide on a facility only to find that it is not working out as expected you need to do something to fix it or move to another facility.
Talking to the senior attendant is the first place to start if you begin to have concerns about your current senior home. If youre concerned that something isnt being handled properly ask for an explanation, but nicely. As that saying goes, youll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Maybe there was an emergency that interrupted a service being provided so what you saw isnt the norm. However, repeat emergency explanations will eventually indicate a problem.
Try to correct the problem with the current facility to try to work out the problem. This might include seeking counsel on patient rights. You might assume that the assisted living facility or nursing home wants you to stay, but in reality, if they see you as a less profitable resident they might be happy if you left. This is why you need to know about your rights as a resident. You might be illegally manipulated into moving.
If things cant be worked out or its a voluntary discharge, then you will need to find a new senior housing solution.