Tips From Retirement Home Shopping to Moving In| Rockwall, TX

We all shop for items every day, but it’s not too often that we shop for a retirement home. So what are the tips you should keep in mind when you start

shopping for your loved one’s forever home? Here are a number of things to keep in mind:

Tips for scouting out a forever home for your aging loved one:

• Location. Location. Location. Choose a location that’s close to everything your loved one likes. It’s key to find a desirable location. As you get older, it’s going to be more challenging to get around. Eventually, driving will not be an option. So you want to choose a location that offers you easy access to the places you care about. For instance, if a grocery store or a pharmacy or a hair salon or barbershop is top on your list, make sure there’s one within walking distance. Memory Care patients are not allowed to leave the facility on their own for their safety but if you are in the area where you usually shop, seeing your mom and dad in between your shopping will become a routine for you.
• Single-story homes are ideal. Regardless of whether you’re looking at single-storied homes or furnished retirement homes, seniors are better off if they don’t have to navigate stairs. Even if you’re physically fit, there will come a time when going up and down stairs proves to be a falling hazard. Also, if you have a walker or wheelchair then your situation becomes dire where stairs are concerned. Yes, you could get a stairlift but why not take stairs out of the equation for good and only consider one-story dwellings.
• Handicap code approved. If you’re looking at group retirement homes too, always look at those that are handicap code approved with wider doorways and walk-in showers.
• Consider who your frequent visitors are. If your kids and grandkids will be visiting you often then make sure the place you choose has a room available for your regular visitors.
• Research the retirement communities. Your loved one will not know if they like a retirement community until they visit in person. Meeting and having conversations with the residents and the staff will help your loved one decide if he or she would like to live there. Find retirement communities that have hobbies your loved one likes. Plenty of communities offer arts and crafts, card games, bingo, exercise, yoga, meditation, and even golf.
  Find retirement homes that offer large hallways, entryways, bathrooms, etc. These features are essential especially if your relative has a walker or wheelchair or it’s clear they might need one in the near future.
• Know Your Relative’s Budget. Your loved one’s finances are key to knowing what they can afford monthly. Once you know how much he or she can spend, find a retirement home that’s within their budget.
• Maintenance-free is best: More than likely, your relative isn’t interested in taking care of a lawn, garden or pool. Keeping your relative’s backyard clear of maintenance is likely most appreciated. If they end up in a group home then you won’t have to worry about back, front or side lawns, trees or bushes.

Moving Day

Next, you’ll have to plan your loved one’s move. First, if they are still living in a house or apartment, you’ll either have to list their home or make sure your relative has paid their apartment in full. Listing their house will take some time as you’ll need a realtor to stage your loved one’s house. Likely, your loved one’s realtor will suggest moving some of their furniture out to create a more open floor plan. If your relative is in an apartment, he or she would have signed a lease and their apartment’s manager will want to make sure they have paid for their lease term in full before he or she moves out.

Prior to Move Day

Make sure you find out what furniture and items are permitted in your relative’s new place. If he or she is going to a retirement home aka an independent living home or an assisted living home, then the apartments, suites or rooms are likely furnished. Ask the staff what your relative is allowed to bring. Likely this will include clothes, framed photos and other small sentimental items including favorite personal care items.

On Move Day

Moving is a stressor for just about anyone who’s involved in the move. Your relative is no different. Think of ways to make your aging loved one feel upbeat and confident about their move. Some aging seniors will feel depressed at the thought that this is their final destination. It’s on you to make them feel more upbeat about the move.

Some ideas include taking your relative out to his or her favorite breakfast or lunch restaurant. This way you can reassure your loved one that they are loved very much and you and other relatives and friends will visit them regularly. You might even invite other close relatives or friends who can help you make their transition more comfortable. It’s a good idea to stay with them for an hour or two until he or she is feeling less stressed and more relaxed in their new digs.

Getting Settled

You might even help your relative meet a friend or two and a staff member or two before you leave. Remember, leaving their last residence might just flood them with memories of all things past. Sometimes this includes relatives or friends who have passed and it may just bring up their own mortality so anything you can do to relieve their stress like get them involved in a favorite hobby or activity that might relieve any anxiety that this move created.

Once you can tell your relative has let his or her guard down and is adjusting to the new surroundings, this is the time to let them know you’re leaving but you will be back to visit. Additionally, give them your number and the numbers of other relatives and friends so your relative knows that family and friends are only a text or phone call away,.

I would not include all of the paragraphs below in every blog. Maybe one of the paragraphs but not all.

Village Green is an award-winning assisted living and memory care community that offers many housing options tailored to meet your loved one’s needs. Both independent, assisted living and memory care communities offer seniors the opportunity to form social relationships, pursue hobbies and interests, and remain active. View our campus floor plans including studio, one and two-bedroom apartments.

For the convenience of families living in and around Houston, Texas, Village Green offers assisted living and memory care communities in in The Woodlands, Cypress, Champions, Conroe, Kingwood, Tomball, Rockwall, Mckinney, and Highland Village. All our locations are state-of-art, purpose-built with our residents’ needs in mind. We invite you to visit, tour, and see for yourself how our assisted living and memory care campuses exceed your relative’s needs.

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To contact us online, visit our site or to inquire by phone, call 281.208.5876. At Village Green, we are here to help you and your loved one find a new, loving forever home.