<!–[CDATA[The decision to move a parent, grandparent, or any senior loved one into assisted living is never an easy one to make. It’s not always simple after you’ve made the decision either, especially when you and your family are trying to determine where the senior should move to.
Broadly speaking, it comes down to two choices—should your senior loved one stay close to their home or is it better for them to move near a family member?
4 Factors to Consider When Choosing an Assisted Living Location
Take the following four factors into consideration and you’ll make a tough decision much easier:
1. Which Location Offers the Highest Quality Care?
This is clearly the most important consideration. After all, extra care and support are why you decided on assisted living in the first place, so quality and fit have to be at the top of the list.
Though there are assisted living communities in virtually every region of the country, there may or may not be one that’s a good fit in every city. Find the community that offers the highest quality care and the right location will follow.
2. Where Will They Have the Most Companionship and Support?
This question might require some soul searching but the answer will get you much closer to a decision. Everyone wants to be close to their loved ones as they grow older. However, moving them closer to you may or may not be the best solution.
It’s a matter of quality over quantity. If your senior loved one has a wide circle of friends that they see frequently, the most loving decision might be to keep them closer to their current home. If they don’t have this kind of support and love nearby, relocating them closer to family might be the best move.
3. Where Does Your Senior Loved One Want to Live?
This almost goes without saying, but it’s still a good reminder. Your loved one will be the most affected by your decision, so it’s only right to take their wishes seriously. Many seniors fear that they’re losing their independence already. Giving them the deciding voice in such an important decision will help to counter this natural fear.
4. There’s Comfort in Familiarity and Change Can Be Scary
This means you’ll need to weigh the positives of moving your senior loved one to a brand new location against keeping them close to home. In other words, there should be enough benefits to offset the loss of familiarity if you choose to move them closer to an adult child or other family member.
The Hardest Part is Behind You
We know how difficult this process might be for you and your family. You’ve already taken an important first step toward improving the life of your senior loved one. That happened when you decided on assisted living in the first place.
Yes, there’s still some uncertainty ahead but you can rest assured that things will fall into place now that the hardest part is behind you.
Five Star Senior Living is Behind You, Too!
You don’t have to make any of these decisions all on your own. We’re behind you with whatever information or support we can give. Contact us at any time if we can be of assistance to you and your family.
Better yet, let us arrange a personal tour of one of our communities. Call us to set up a time!