Is it Time to Move Your Parents to Assisted Living?

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The decision to move your parents to assisted living for care isn’t an easy one. It’s fraught with a lot of guilt and a lot of worry about whether you are doing the right thing. If you want to feel as confident as possible in your decision the best bet is to start seriously thinking about it as soon as possible and do your research. Even if you don’t want to it is important to give yourself time to gather all of the information and facts that you need so you can make the right decision as to if it is time to move your parents to an assisted living care home.

Have the Conversation Soon

The first and most important thing to remember is that moving your parents to assisted living for care isn’t only about you, it’s about your parents’ lives. As such, it’s essential that you talk to them about the possibility of care as early as possible, so that they are involved in planning what happens to them. It’s important to start the conversation early so that you can make a plan collaboratively, rather than forcing a plan on your parents that they don’t want.

When talking to your parents about assisted living there are a few things to remember:

Plan the conversation for a time when you aren’t in a rush, it’s an emotive topic and you need to allow time to explore it fully.
Really listen to your parents’ concerns, and understand where they are coming from.
Expect to have the conversation multiple times, your first conversation is about planting a seed of an idea.
Talk about how you feel rather than dictating what should happen, for example, tell them that you are worried about them falling while they are alone, and that’s the reason you’re considering care.

Benefits of Assisted Living Care Homes

It’s important to understand the benefits of care homes when you are making this decision and whether they are applicable to your family member. Aside from safety and qualified care, one of the main benefits of care homes is that your parent will have increased opportunity to socialize and feel part of a community. This is something that people often lose as they get older and lose mobility, but it’s incredibly important for wellbeing and overall health.

Research

Be sure that you allow yourself plenty of time to research different care homes and if possible include your parents in this process. Think about things like location, cost, provided services and restrictions that the facility provides. When you have narrowed down your options, it’s a good idea to arrange visits and bring your parents along so that they can give you their honest opinion and they can envision themselves living in the home. Care homes like Signature care homes will allow you to easily book a tour online at signature-care-homes.co.uk so you can go at a time that is convenient for you.

When you’re touring care homes be sure to engage with current residents to get a feel for how happy they are and if they are being taken care of.

Understand your Limits

When you’re planning your parents care make a list of all of the caring responsibilities and realistically divide them up among willing family members. Having this idea of the work that needs to be done versus the people who are available to do it will help you to decide whether an assisted living care home is a good option because you’ll know when their care isn’t something that you can handle at home any more.