While choosing a personal-care community for your loved one may seem daunting, we’re going to give you some tips to make the entire process a bit easier. If your loved one has been experiencing falls, loneliness, depression, severe weight loss, or general difficulty taking care of daily activities, it’s high time to consider a personal care home/retirement community lifestyle.
What are some of the perks of living in a community such as this? There are many.
The professional care team that works at a retirement community is the lifeblood of a personal care home. In truth, there is nothing like a qualified, well-educated professional care team ready 24/7 to make you and your loved one feel more at ease.
But let’s look at what else should be checked out when picking the right personal care community.
Meals
Most of today’s retirement communities offer chef-prepared meals that are nutritious and delicious. They cater to specific dietary restrictions and serve their meals in an atmosphere rivaling a five-star fine dining restaurant. Some communities even have special events that cater to specific culinary delights.
Environment
A healthy, happy, clean environment is offered by today’s personal care homes/retirement communities. Especially if your loved one has had difficulty keeping their home neat and maintained, they can now exist in an environment that promotes health and cleanliness, as well as being surrounded by a caring team of professionals and new friends.
Medication
It can be difficult, remembering to take your meds every single day. Additionally, the older we get, the harder it becomes to understand what every medication is for, how often it needs to be taken, if it was already taken that day, etc. With a professional care team monitoring and managing your loved one’s medication, the chance of a mistake being made is slim to none.
Activities
One of the benefits of living in a retirement community is the many activities included. The opportunities for socialization should be abundant. This helps to guarantee your loved one will not suffer from loneliness, boredom, or lack of human connection.
State Licensing
Don’t feel bad about asking questions when checking out a retirement community/personal care home. The more questions you ask, the better. Talk to residents if you can. Above all else, make sure you ask to see any licensing, certification, etc.
Cost
It’s important to know whether or not you can afford the community in which you’d like your loved one to live. Though it can seem like a significant amount of money, remember you are getting absolutely every single thing your loved one could desire and need all in one place. Most valuable of all will be the peace of mind both you and your loved one will enjoy when they move into their new surroundings.
What’s Offered
Many retirement communities today offer a similar list of programs including the following:
- Social events
- Laundry and housekeeping services
- 24 hour emergency response
- Assistance with daily living activities
- Monitoring and supervision of medications
- Three meals a day
Where some retirement communities are concerned, they go above and beyond the norm. These resort-like communities offer assisted living, independent living, and memory care programs in an atmosphere that is jam packed with superb amenities including club houses, pools, salons, gyms, and more.
It’s Time to Have a Talk
If you’ve read through this entire piece, you are clearly considering a personal care home/retirement community for your loved one. Should that be the case, it’s time to have a talk with them. If your loved one is going through Alzheimer’s, dementia, or some other memory related condition, you will still want to discuss the upcoming changes in their life. If they can provide feedback and input, all the better. Put your mind and theirs at ease by introducing them to Discovery Village At Sugarloaf.
