Whether your elderly parent has trouble performing some day-to-day tasks or you think that it's best for him or her to spend time with some peers, you might pursue the idea of helping your parent move into a retirement community. This change can be a significant adjustment for someone who has lived on his or her own for decades, but it hopefully won't take too long until your loved one is comfortable in the new surroundings. It's ideal if you're able to ease this transition to ensure that your parent feels settled in as quickly as possible. Here are three ways you can accomplish this goal.
Include Elements From Home
The reality with moving into a retirement community that your parent won't be able to take everything from his or her home -- there simply isn't room to fit the entire contents of a house into an apartment-style living situation. However, you can help your parent feel at home by ensuring that he or she is surrounded by the things from home that carried the most significance. Make sure you set aside things such as favorite artwork, family pictures and a few small pieces of furniture or decoration items that can comfortably fit into the new living quarters and help your parent feel settled.
Encourage Activity Involvement
One of the key benefits of moving into a retirement community is that there's never an excuse to be bored. Residents can enjoy a wide range of social activities that keep them engaged. Do your best to ensure that your parent is experiencing some of these activities as soon as he or she is ready. Whether it's joining an art club, taking part in a knitting get-together or simply making a point of sitting with fellow retirement community residents in the dining hall, the sooner your parent begins to connect with his or her peers, the better the transition will be.
Visit The Right Amount
While you'll want to visit your parent to ensure that he or she is getting settled comfortably, you don't want to spend too much time at the retirement community. If you're visiting daily, for example, your parent might view this occasion as his or her social hour and abstain from getting together with other residents. There's no universally ideal frequency for visiting -- that depends on your parent. However, you can check with the staff to see how your parent is acclimatizing to the new surroundings. If he or she is happily taking part in group activities, you can comfortably reduce the frequency of your visits.
Share5 February 2016
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