What’s the first thought you get when you think about moving to assisted living? Is it like saying goodbye to your family, all the household items among which you have lived for decades, your home, and it feels like life is coming to an end? Well, beyond all these, moving to assisted living is much more- it is starting an extraordinary journey. Shifting to an assisted living residence is also about welcoming new opportunities and adventures that await each day.
It is pretty normal to have apprehension when one decides to shift to an assisted living facility. It is also common to have a question like “Why should I consider assisted living?” Let’s make it easy by understanding the facts associated with assisted living. Life is safer, easier, happier, and more comfortable in assisted living homes. Benefits such as – round-the-clock medical support, instant assistance whenever needed, socializing with other seniors, and fun activities on a daily basis help your loved ones focus on themselves, their own growth and lead a stable lifestyle. Old age comes with its own set of challenges and every elderly has their own problems, but assisted living makes overcoming these challenges feasible, hence making life more comfortable.
What is “Assisted Living”?
So, before understanding the true meaning of assisted living, let’s shed some light on the misconceptions about facility. Firstly, it is believed that seniors have a fear of shifting to assisted living apartments as it may curtail their independence. However, that’s not true. A majority of seniors especially those above the age of 70 admitted that they needed special assistance for activities of everyday living. This is strictly what assisted living describes, it gives them the ability to live independently while receiving assistance as needed. Fortunately, today’s assisted living apartments and homes are continuously evolving to serve the generation of seniors with a well-equipped set of services. Assisted living homes offer a spectrum of great services ranging from daily living activities, assistance by caregivers, independent living assistance, and memory care exercises.
Assisted living apartments are beneficial for seniors with an easygoing way of living through services like housekeeping, laundry, comprehensive meals, fitness lessons, tours & trips, disease detection & prevention packages, providing the seniors a stress-free, joyous environment and much more.
When shifting to assisted living homes, people who are already living independently not only get assistance from caregivers but also feel rejuvenated and find free relaxation time for themselves. At the same time, people who are living with their families and moving to an assisted living apartment, find a door of new opportunities to live their life in a new way.
On digging hands in-depth into the services and packages offered by the assisted living communities, we find that it helps seniors getting assistance from the caregivers in handling activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, having a meal, continence, and personal grooming. More than these, today’s senior housing communities truly reflect senior empowerment by helping them to live their lives independently like never before. Moreover, most of the assisted living apartments motivate elders to have references and make decisions of their own, while equipping them with facilities, knowledge, and care they need to choose and create a healthy lifestyle for themselves. The plus point of such apartments is that they provideassistance to the level that your loved one deserves and needs. Along with it, this allows your loved ones to take part in activities and tasks on their own without any doubt or fear. In a nutshell, all such factors honestly help seniors feel as if they are living independently amidst new opportunities of social life, adventures, and happiness. You too will have peace of mind by knowing that your loved ones are secure and happy.
When is it time to move to assisted living?
Aging is natural and many say, it’s more an art than science. Every person ages at a different pace and may find health challenges emerging as time passes by. Because of this, healthcare decisions must be taken at the right time. We all know that life isn’t forever a straightforward proposition, you never know what might happen next. We must choose the right time to plan for such a big transition phase. At a certain age, there are signs in our elders which concern us. If needed, consult with doctors or our family members and friends and decide the best time for moving to assisted living.
Let’s throw light on some of them:
- When your loved one starts feeling lonely or isolated: This is the time when lack of communication can lead them to undergo depression coupled with chronic health problems such as dementia and heart diseases. Isolation or chronic loneliness can also cause unhealthy behaviors and so at such times, shifting to an assisted living home is a good option.
- When ignoring self-care becomes a habit: It’s completely wrong if health is taken lightly and in the case of aged people, it becomes even more important to take care of themselves with regular health checkups, medication, and disease detection if any, etc. But often, it gets skipped. At assisted living, such skips don’t happen because seniors will be provided with scheduled body and health checkups by in-house medical team of doctors, and even specialists.
- When dependency makes your loved ones irritated: There comes the time, when our elder ones start feeling that they are dependent on others and are not happy with that dependence. In this facility, even though seniors get assistance from caregivers, they feel independent and live a non-intrusive lifestyle.
- When life gets boring: It’s fair to feel bored with a life and that too when you are not employed anywhere and even physically cannot do any household work. Aged people then start looking at their life as a burden. Upon moving to assisted living homes, they find recreational activities and tasks that keep them busy and motivated, making them feel more lively and cheerful. They also make friends with other older people within the assisted living community which gives them the much needed opportunities to socialize.
- Lack of monitoring at home: Senior citizen’s children mostly stay busy with their personal and professional lives. Due to lack of time and resources, they find it extremely difficult to ensure physical and mental wellbeing of their parents. In such cases, seniors often succumb to isolation, depression, or injuries.
The above-mentioned signs are among the few ones that need to be considered. These factors can lead to serious lifestyle interruptions in the lives of seniors and so shifting to assisted living homes is the best option at such times.
Why is moving to assisted living better for seniors?
It’s a fact that by facilitating assisted living services, seniors’ health and happiness actually improve. Following are the top eight benefits that have proven the fact that moving to assisted living apartments or homes is a better option for seniors.
- A safe, secure, and protected place like a mother’s lap: Ageing asks for a safe, secure, and protected assisted living place along with a stress-free atmosphere. In assisted living residences like Aurum, there’s always a team of experts who provide assistance. Here, your loved ones are under the observation of a medical team and caregivers who will not leave them alone and are always there to help seniors in any tough situation.
- Your freedom and independence are yours only: Shifting to assisted living apartments means restoring your independence. In assisted living, it’s all in your loved one’s lifestyle choices. Seniors are free to choose what task they want to perform and how to invest their time. Staff is there to help them but this won’t affect their freedom in any way.
- Medical Support with 24*7 assistance and supervision: Declining health, worsening of a chronic illness, or slow recovery from any surgery, injury, etc. needs 24*7 care assistance and medical support. While it’s a challenge, moving into assisted living makes it easy as caregivers and nurses ensure that everything from medications to observing the signs of increasing weakness and pain – are monitored and managed. Assisted living also provides a safer living atmosphere. To access bathrooms and other areas, ramps, wide hallways, elevators, grab bars, and doorways there are assistants to help seniors at every step.
- Creating communications and connections: One of the most important reasons for shifting into an assisted living home is defeating loneliness. Loneliness or lack of communicationcan cause real health issues including depression and high blood pressure. At assisted living apartments, seniors get the opportunity to make connections and develop new friendships with other older people. Being friends with people of the same age group makes them share their feelings and emotions, and thus gain emotional stability.
- A nutritious, delicious meal every day: Seniors, need a meal that is light to digest, delicious in taste, and healthy in all manners since many suffer from malnutrition. At Aurum, seniors have options of customizing their meals as prescribed by nutritionists as per their dietary preferences, taste, and medical needs.
- Regular recreational activities for refreshment: It’s as important to exercise as an aged person as it is when you’re a young grown-up. Many seniors undergo bone problems, muscle issues, weakness, and much more. At Aurum, a senior can get up and start their day with scheduled exercises. These exercises or activities not only recharge their bodies but refresh their minds as well. Tours & trips, games, fitness tasks, etc. energize them from deep within.
- Caregiver Comfort: At these kind of homes, seniors will be provided personalized care with compassion, respect, and concern. At Aurum, a team of caregivers is always there to assist your loved ones in all
- Assured privacy: Often, seniors worry about a lack of privacy and intrusiveness while staying in an assisted living apartment. Well, no need to fear this at Aurum. Here seniors are provided with separate rooms that include private balconies and a kitchenette. There’s always a common area to share with other residents, and if anybody wants to withdraw from the crowd, they can spend time in their room.
So, what do you think? Is it good to move into an assisted living apartment? When provided with such facilities and amenities, our senior loved ones actually become empowered and start believing in themselves that they can live independently on their own.
The purpose of these apartments is to help your older loved ones with independent living while also proposing services to help your elder ones whenever they need them. The social activities keep your loved one engaged and active, the customized meal plans, mobility services, and assistance in daily living tasks are there to bring that energy, happiness, and excitement back into your elder ones. Assisted living apartments area world in themselves, proposing and offering beauty & barber services, communal parks, fitness centers, pools, spas, art studios, and a lot more.
Without any dilemma, let your seniors get shifted TODAY at Aurum- a senior and assisted living facility located in the heart of Gurgaon! Promote independence amongst seniors, along with their mental and physical wellbeing. Let seniors have a happy second inning in a safe environment where they can spend their golden years stress-free.
