If you’ve come to the conclusion that your loved ones could enjoy their retirement better in an assisted living neighborhood, it’s great that you’re making the decision to help them improve their lifestyle in their golden years! However, how do you talk to your elderly parents about moving into an assisted living community? While the conversation about this big move isn’t an easy conversation to have with your loved ones, you can make it easier for you and your loved ones by navigating the conversation more effectively. Here’s how to talk to your parents about considering assisted living in Tampa, FL.
Preparing for the Conversation
It’s always important to do your homework long before initiating the conversation about your parents moving into residential care in a retirement community. Understand the concerns you want to highlight about your loved one’s current living situation, and you’ll naturally be able to create a more convincing argument for your parents to move into an assisted living community. For example, if your loved ones experience difficulties in tasks of daily living such as dressing and bathing themselves, assisted living can compensate for their limitations. Furthermore, it’d be great if you could educate yourself further on retirement communities, assisted living programs, and other aspects of senior care options. This will help you to make a stronger case for your suggestions and help your parents to understand you’ve put sincere thought into this conversation.
Starting the Conversation
One of the hardest parts of engaging in this conversation with your parents is knowing how to start. How you open the conversation sets the tone for the rest of the conversation, greatly influencing how it closes. A good rule of thumb is to encourage your parents to share their opinions and feelings towards these specific topics using open-ended questions, such as the following:
- Do you feel lonely at times? Would you be interested in spending more time with similarly-aged friends?
- How do you feel about driving? Would you like to have other options for transportation?
- Would you be happy to get a helping hand with housekeeping (laundry, dishes)?
- Do you have a plan for long-term care for situations such as if you ever fall sick and couldn’t cope alone at home? How would you pay for it?
Guiding the Conversation
You’re naturally going to have to put in more effort to convince your loved ones to consider your recommendation of moving into assisted living, because of the misgivings and misunderstandings older adults have towards residential care for the elderly. By facilitating the conversation in an approachable way, you’re more likely to have a productive conversation with your parents about assisted living.
- If possible, try to have the conversation in person to ensure that you can talk in a more personal manner.
- Have the conversation early, so that all of you can reach a proper and complete conclusion before an unfortunate emergency such as a health crisis.
- Make it a series of conversations so that both parties have time to reflect on their perspectives.
If you’re looking for a care option for your aging parents, consider our retirement community’s Assisted Living program!
