Finding a suitable senior retirement home for your parents or grandparents can be as challenging as finding a new residence for yourself. If you do not have a mental picture of what your parents need, you may only keep going around in circles and make wrong decisions.
Senior retirement homes offer a wide range of care, and the decision on what care packages are best for your older loved ones is yours as a loving relative. Making a choice doesn’t have to be complicated. Some guides can help you make informed decisions that best suit your older relatives.
Among the best Canadian retirement homes is Seasons Retirement home. Here, your older loved ones are assessed to ensure they receive the right care package that meets all their needs. You can rest assured knowing that your parents or grandparents are always well cared for.
Checklist Guides For Retirement Homes
These guides are in the form of checklists to help you make the right decisions for your older loved ones with ease. You can make your selection process easier by simply using the checklist to determine what kind of care and senior retirement home is best for your parents.
Thorough research with informed decisions would help your older relatives enjoy their retirement to the fullest.
These are important factors to consider when looking for a retirement home.
Type Of Care Needed
Knowing the exact type of care your parents or grandparents need is crucial to choosing a senior retirement home for them.
Senior retirement homes have advanced from giving only a single kind of care package to their residents to providing several unique care packages as needed. This has brought a range of care home types, including assisted living, independent living, independent supportive living, and memory care. If you have difficulty determining what kind of care your older loved ones need, here is a list to help you.
- Can your parents still carry out their daily activities without help from anyone?
- Do you think they can manage themselves without round-the-clock care?
- Are their diet and nutrition a concern for you?
- Do they have conditions that need to be monitored every time? Etc.
These tips would help you choose the right care type for your parents or grandparents.
Make a Budget
Like in real estate, senior retirement homes come with different prices – from very affordable arrangements to more expensive ones. It is left to you to make realistic budgets based on your resources.
There are some funding sources you can explore to afford befitting senior retirement residents for your older loved ones. They include:
- Annuity, pension, and other retirement bonuses
- Life insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Property in the form of real estate that can be sold
- Veteran benefits
- Government programs
- Social security, etc
Location Of The Retirement Home
In choosing a retirement home for your parents or grandparents, you should consider its proximity to your workplace, home, or even their grandchildren’s school. It’ll be nice to stay close to their loved ones, knowing they aren’t too far away from them. The proximity also encourages you to drop by for visits as often as possible.
Select a Couple of the Best Retirement Homes
Pick a couple of the best retirement homes in your preferred location that fall into your budget. Look them up on the internet to confirm the kinds of care services they offer and how many of these amenities they provide. This would help to give you an image of what to expect before you go for a tour.
Visit your Top Picks
Be adventurous and go for an excursion to the top senior communities you have picked. This would give you the perfect picture of the environment and how things work. You can take a step further by dining with other residents or visiting the kitchen to know if they can meet your parents’ dietary and nutritional needs.
While you are there, observe and interact with the other residents to get an idea of how happy and satisfied your older loved ones may be if they reside there. Engage the staff by asking the right questions to help you make the best choices for your older loved ones.
Choose the Best Suited Retirement Community
After you have visited and assessed your top choices, you can now make informed decisions on the best seniors communities for your older loved one.
If it turns out to be a more tasking selection process than first expected, pick an option that can attend to your most essential needs. Ask questions such as:
- Do older persons have to move from one residence to another should their care package change?
- Do your older loved ones have to commute to a doctor’s office for an appointment, or do they get an in-house visit?
- What sort of activities are planned for older adults to keep them mentally active?
- Are older persons given a chance at social interaction, and in what capacity?
- Can the dietary needs of your parents or grandparents be successfully met? Etc.
Make the Final Move
Now that all the research is out of the way and decisions have been made, all that is left is to move in. This transition can be a little difficult for your older loved ones seeing as they are leaving their familiar territory to a less familiar place. You can help make this easier for them by:
Helping them Pack
It isn’t exactly like moving from one apartment to another, so they can’t take all they own. Ensure to pack their essential belongings and items they cannot do without. While doing this, join them to reminisce on stuff they have to leave behind.
Settling them In
You can do this by helping them decorate their rooms or residence in semblance to their former living place. Put their favourite armchair right in front of their fireplace or hang their favourite portrait over the TV set. This would ensure that they see and use these sentimental items more often, making them feel more at home and adapt faster.
Conclusion
Finding a befitting senior retirement home for your older loved ones can be challenging if you don’t know how to go about the selection process. With the help of a senior retirement home checklist guide, you would find it easier to find the best retirement home that’ll give your older relatives the best possible care.
