It can be a difficult time putting your loved one in senior living facilities, especially if it is a mother or a father. You might feel a sense of guilt or a twinge of pain at the sight of your parents, who have always taken care of you, now needing a skilled nursing facility or senior homes to watch over them, now. However, you should not feel at all bad. Chances are, your parents don’t want you to care for them anyway. Parents will always be parents and no matter the ages, they will always want to take care of their children even if they are grandparents themselves. So, really, you are doing your parents a favor by giving them the independence that they need and want in an assisted living community. Here are a few things you can look for in senior homes to make sure that your parent is going to get everything that they need in retirement housing.
Supervised Independence
This might sounds contradictory but it makes sense. Your loved one wants independence. They have been taking care of themselves their entire lives and are used to that. They aren’t used to someone constantly having to help them with simple tasks like walking and tying their shoes. It’s important that they still have a level of independence in order to keep trying. However, the fact of the matter is that they do need help. Most of the time, they shouldn’t be left alone. Isn’t this why you are looking at senior homes in the first place? A good facility will have a healthy balance between looking out for the residents and letting them still be in control of their own lives.
Hygienic and Scenic Facilities
Being clean is the number one thing to look for when you are touring senior homes for your loved one. If what they are showing you feels dirty, you can only imagine what behind the scenes looks like. You want a place that is kept extremely clean. On top of that, picking a venue with beautiful views and grounds is also important. After all, your loved one is going to spend much of their time walking around the facility and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the outdoors. Landscapes should be well maintained at all times. If they can not take care of their landscapes and keep the facility clean, how do you know they will be able to do that for your loved one?
Balanced and Tasty Meals
Pay attention to the meals when you are visiting assisted living communities. You could even talk to some of the other residents and see how they enjoy the food. You want to make sure that it has the balance of being healthy and nutritious as well as tasting good and being appealing. An eating schedule should also be in place to make sure that all the residents receive the food that they need and no one gets forgotten.
Caring and Friendly Staff
There’s nothing worse than putting your loved one somewhere only to find out that they are being treated very badly by the staff. There have been reports of facilities that do not treat their residents like they matter. Again, talking to the more coherent residents at the home you are considering will give you a good idea of what happens when the family is not around. Pay attention to how the staff interacts with the residents and particularly to the residents reaction of the staff. That will give you a good idea of how the staff are when you are not around. Residents should be ready and willing to accept conversation and help from the staff, unless of course Alzheimer’s or dementia prevents them from these kind of positive interactions.
Keeping a look out for these few simple things will give an overall feel of a nursing home. Let your parent give you their opinion also, if they are able. If they think it’s important to be in a senior home that will allow them to decorate their room as they wish, then that is exactly what you should look for. Involve your parents in the decision making so they know their opinion is important.