How to Consider Needs When Choosing an Assisted Living Facility
When choosing an assisted living facility or senior care service for your parents, you need to think carefully about your parent's needs. You need to think about their housing, social, and medical needs.
Housing Needs
The first thing you need to consider is the type of housing that your parents need. Do your parents still want to have a garage and outside space? If so, you are going to want to look at senior communities where people of the same age live together and help is provided for landscaping and maintenance as well as social and medical needs.
Are your parents ready for an apartment? There are plenty of senior living communities and assisted living communities that offer small one and two bedroom apartments. When considering apartments, make sure you know how your parents really sleep. If they sleep in different bedrooms in their home now, make sure that you get them a two bedroom apartment instead of a one bedroom apartment.
Is even an apartment too much? Your parents may want to move into an assisted living facility where they have a bedroom, living area, and bathroom, but where their food needs are taken care of by the staff.
Social Needs
Next, talk to your parents about their social needs and wants. If your parents are still in good mental health, a facility where they can mingle and go on arranged activities with people their age may be ideal.
If your parents are in good physical shape, a community that offers golfing, tennis, and walking trails may be a good fit for your parents.
If your parents are experiencing memory loss, a facility that has more of a sense of routine may be best.
Medical Needs
Finally, take into consideration your parent's medical needs. You need to think about your parent's medical needs both now and in the future. You need to find out how much day-to-day help your parent's need.
You should also make sure that you are up-to-date with your parent's medical needs. A frank talk with your parent's doctor will help you determine the level of medical care your parents need. Be sure to budget for their future needs as well. Facilities that can provide more care over time are often best.
When you look for a senior living community or assisted living community for your parents, make sure that you think carefully about your parent's housing, social, and medical needs. You need to take all of this into consideration when choosing a place for your parents to live.