What To Look For In A Senior Living Community
If you’re thinking about a senior living community for your loved one, or perhaps even for yourself, there is a lot to think about.
Senior living communities have a lot to offer, because they enable people to feel safe and that they are part of a community. However, there are a lot of different types of community out there and it’s important that you look for one that best aligns with your needs.
Understanding levels of care
The first point to understand about senior living communities is the different levels of care that are available. For example:
- Independent living communities are exactly what they sound like. Residents will move into a home in the community, where they will maintain their independence with the added bonus of having access to community activities and social events. They are a great way of staying connected as you get older. Often your rental payment will include elements such as bills and maintenance, so you are free to concentrate on enjoying your life.
- Assisted living is similar to independent living, except that residents are able to access help when they need it. They might get help with everyday activities such as bathing, washing, and moving around; and they will generally get all of their meals provided for them, too.
- Memory care communities specialize in keeping dementia sufferers safe, while at the same time maintaining their engagement within the community. They will be staffed by specialist dementia nurses.
- Nursing homes provide help with day-to-day living, and they also have 24-hour nursing care available. Generally, nursing homes are the right option for people with a lot of healthcare needs.
Location
Once you have understood what level of care is right for you or your loved one, you can start looking at facilities. It’s important that you take location into account when making this decision so that you can easily maintain contact with friends and family members.
This Houston senior living community emphasizes maintaining the connection with family as well as building a social circle within the community. They host quarterly family events as well as weekly entertainment for residents, which helps to maintain connections and bonds. This is very important in ensuring the wellbeing of dementia patients in particular.
Does it suit your lifestyle?
The age of people living in senior living communities can be anywhere from 65 to 122 (this is the oldest anyone has ever been). As you can imagine, wants and needs can change quite a lot over that period of time!
When you are choosing your senior living community it’s worth enquiring about the age of the residents, as well as the activities that are on offer to ensure that the facility is able to offer the kind of life that you want to live.
If connection is important to you, it’s probably worth finding somewhere with people who are of a similar age to you.
Promotion of social connection
Social connection is essential for keeping seniors healthy, so you should quiz any potential communities on this. What kind of social activities do they offer, and what is attendance like? See if you can meet some of the residents when you are doing a tour so that you can get a sense of whether the people that live there are the sort of people you are likely to connect with.
