Making Senior Care Conversations Less Stressful For All Of Those Involved

Everyone has preconceived ideas, commitments, fears and even guilt that they carry with them. These things can make conversations about luxury senior living communities difficult to have. With such an emotionally charged topic, starting or picking up a conversation about Mom or Dad needing senior living services can lead to some serious consequences if the topic isn’t breached just right. Before you have this difficult conversation, take into account the following advice.

Before you start, it’s important to make sure you have all the facts about your options. Luxury senior living communities come in all shapes and sizes, serving seniors of many different abilities and interests. It isn’t always easy to convince your loved one that they would be better suited in a community, especially if they have heard of negative senior living situations from their own parents or loved ones. But luxury senior living communities have undergone major culture changes over the past few decades, cementing the fact that these communities are no longer the stereotypical nursing home of yesterday.

Here are just a few items to keep in mind when discussing senior living:

It's Not Just Bingo!

Luxury senior living communities feature daily activities and events for residents to participate in ranging from travel opportunities and Zumba to community college lectures and Elvis impersonator socials.

There is choice!

Communities focus on giving residents options over their environment, from the time when housekeeping services come during the week to entree choices at mealtimes.

Socialization keeps residents healthier and happier.

Isolation is a major factor in the emotional, physical and cognitive health issues for seniors who live at home without regular socialization. Remember, healthy socialization should happen with opportunities throughout the day. If you are relying on socialization only when you return home from work to chat with Mom, your mother is missing out on an entire day’s worth of connection and socialization. With neighbors and staff members just steps away at a luxury senior living community, residents are more likely to stay active and healthier when living in a community.

Connection is encouraged.

Residents are encouraged to connect with their peers and greater community through all means necessary— social media, group activities, volunteerism and planned trips. Even with COVID-19, seniors stay safe while staff continues to provide meaningful connections on a daily basis, ensuring freshly sterilized spaces.

Don’t wait!

While your loved one may be doing well on her own right now, health conditions and emergencies can change that in a heartbeat. Securing senior care before accidents happen may seem counterintuitive, but it assures that your entire family has had the chance to carefully select the perfect senior community outside of a health crisis situation.

Know Your Opinion.

Before you pitch the idea of luxury senior living to your loved one, think hard about why this is something you want to talk about. Do you feel that your current situation is too difficult to handle? Are you worried about health or safety concerns? Perhaps you think that your loved one is lonely at home and would do better with more social interaction. Take some time, a pen and some paper to write down your reasons, and specific situations you have observed as well as why you think that senior care may be the best option at this time. When it comes to considering luxury senior living, the decision is always unique to the individual.

If you would like some more advice on how to effectively have this conversation with your loved one, contact any counselor at Mirabelle and they’ll be glad to guide you, step by step.