Perhaps one of the most dreaded conversations between children and their elderly parents is one that involves the mention of assisted living homes. This conversation is hard because most of our elderly parents don’t like leaving the homes where they have spent the biggest part of their lives in. They have memories in these homes, and some even had to work very hard to buy those homes.
Regardless, as your parents grow frail and old, their needs change, and one of the most important need concerns their security and well-being. Therefore, since the conversation might seem to be difficult, it is unavoidable, and you must ready yourself to converse with your elderly parent about a possible move to an assisted living facility.
Discussing Downsizing and Moving with a Parent
Here we suggest some steps you can follow to convince your elderly parent of the merits of moving to an assisted living facility:
- Start by planting the seed as a thought- Do not approach the issue with finality. Introduce the topic mentioning to your parent that there are options you think can make his or her life better, safer and more fun.
- Next, suggest a tour of some local assisted living centers. If your parent agrees to go ahead and if he or she is unwilling to abandon the subject and wait for another day.
- Use teachable moments to reiterate the need for the move- Did your dad fall or slip and spent time before getting help, did your parents forget to take a meal or medicine? If such events happen, use them to show your parent the peril that lies in him or her staying alone without anyone to help him or her and suggest how you think this can be remedied by considered moving to an assisted living facility.
- Check if any of your parent’s friends live in a local assisted living facility- if you can locate any friend living in these facilities, you can use them as examples of how beneficial these facilities are. You will be surprised just how willing your parent might be to move into the facility especially if their friends are residents in the same facilities.
- Show them the fun that is in the place- In the event that you do not find any of your parent’s friends living in the facility, take your parent round and show him or her the amount of fun that is in that place. That might just persuade them to embrace the idea of moving.
Benefits of Moving Into Assisted Living
- Your parents will get the care and attention needed at an elderly age.
- Your parents will have other elderly people to hang around with and have fun.
- Your parents will be relieved of the responsibility of having to worry about house chores and maintenance of the home.
Since the move to an assisted facility is something that will benefit your elderly parent, you need to consider following the five steps highlighted above to see if you can convince your parents to go to an assisted living facility. When your loved one is ready to make the transition, be sure to enlist the help of a senior moving specialist. These professionally trained movers can helping with everything from downsizing to making sure your loved-one’s new place is organized.