5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Assisted Living

As we age, we start to become a little less capable of caring for ourselves. If you have a family member or loved one that is getting to that point, you might want to start looking into senior care. There are some great senior living communities that your loved ones would really enjoy. If caring for your loved one is becoming a burden or they are starting to need around the clock attention, then a senior care assisted living community might be just what they need. Here are a few things that most senior living facilities have to offer.

Eating Schedule
One of the main problems that our seniors encounter when they live alone is forgetting to eat. Either that or they are not cognitive enough to be able to use the stove by themselves. This can result in dangerous weight loss or eating foods that are not giving them the nutrition that they need. In a senior living facility, your loved one would have designated meal times and be able to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack foods all designed just for him or her. The staff at most senior living facilities are very good at finding out exactly what each person needs and making sure that they eat sufficiently.

Senior Activities
It’s important to stay active, mentally and physically, as you get older. This is why you most assisted living care centers will offer an outdoor area for low impact sports like golf and water aerobics or just recreational swimming, as well as a place where the residents can go for walks or slow jogs, depending on their capability. These areas are usually beautiful and filled with foliage and flowers to make the place very pleasant and enjoyable. They also usually offer a games room where the residents will have bingo nights or can go and work on cross word puzzles or play checkers together.

Age Appropriate Socialization
One of the best things about a senior care facility is that they are able to interact with people of the same age and experience level. This makes it a lot easier to connect and form relationships with other people. As their child or grandchild, it’s not that you are not enough for them, but your loved one needs to be able to socialize with people that haven’t known them any other way than how they are now. It’s good for both parties to be able to get this kind of interaction.

24 Hour Care
Needing around the clock care is the number one reason why the elderly end up needing to go to an assisted living home. These homes offer workers and trained medical professionals around the clock to help with any medications, check ups etc. They also have patient care techs that can help with eating, bathing, dressing and other daily activities. Not only that but there are drivers available to take your loved one to doctor’s appointments or physical therapy or other appointments.

Open Visitation
A good nursing home will understand how important it is that you have access to your loved one at all times. Many people can face a certain amount of guilt for sending their loved one to a nursing home but the truth is, it’s really what is best. However, being able to visit them all of the time, will help to ease their fears that they haven’t done the right thing. Seeing how happy their loved one is and how well taken care of they are will help you to see that your parent or loved one is so much better in assisted living than they would be at home.

If this is about your parents, then keep this in mind: for so many years, they cared for you. They taught you how to read, how to tie your shoe laces, how to properly wash yourself, etc. Now, the tables have turned and they need your help. However, this can be difficult for them because they don’t want to be cared for by the one they think they should still be caring for. This is why a nursing home might be the best idea. It will give you the opportunity to focus on the relationship side of things.