Generational living, otherwise known as sandwiching, isn’t necessarily possible for every family. Whether it is the size of your living space or the cost of taking care of children and parents, attempting to have everyone reside under one roof is untenable for all.
So, what exactly do you do for your aging parents or grandparents?
You may be apprehensive about the idea, which is completely understandable, but a wide array of families across the country are opting for retirement homes, public or private.
Retirement communities have drastically transformed in recent years. They have turned into modern establishments with all of the necessary amenities and components to ensure residents have an impeccable standard of living in their senior years. Surprisingly, it isn’t the retirement home that makes interested prospects hesitant, it is the transitional period that proves most difficult. To overcome this hurdle, it requires a collaborative effort between you and the home.
Here are five tips for helping your loved ones enter a retirement home:
1. Pay Regular Visits to the Retirement Home
It is common for your elderly mother and/or father to feel like they have been abandoned and left on the side of the road when they leave your home. It is up to you to ensure that they don’t experience any of these emotions.
How can you achieve this? It’s simple: pay regular visits to the retirement home. Whether it is daily at the beginning or just dropping by at random times, you want to make certain that they still think they are part of the family. This can be enhanced by bringing the kids!
2. Bring Loving Memories to the Suite
Although you can’t move their entire furniture pieces into the retirement suite, you can add some living memories throughout their humble abode. This could consist of mementos, like old pictures, clothing, or drawings from the grandchildren.
3. Invite Your Parents Over Regularly
Just like you pay regular visits to the retirement home, you must invite your parents over regularly. Everything from holiday get togethers to once in a while babysitting, you can’t merely dump them off at the senior living community and only arrive weekly.
They want to get out of the house, they want to spend time with their in-laws and grandkids, and they want to remain close relationships with everyone.
One more thing: if you’re going to a restaurant, bring your parents along.
4. Maintain a Relationship with Staff
To give the impression that you are care about their surroundings, you need to maintain a strong relationship with the staff. The manager, security personnel, or nurses. It doesn’t matter. If they know you by name as soon as they look at you, then you know you’re doing your job as a son or daughter. Why? If they know you by name, then they likely have a strong report with your dad.
5. Do They Like the Retirement Community?
From the moment you start searching for a retirement home to the time your parents move in, you need to inquire with your mom or dad if they like the retirement community. Remember, they are the ones who will be living there, not you.
Food, staff, living arrangements, amenities, features. Whatever it is, you need to determine if they are satisfied with the retirement home. If not, well, perhaps it’s time to move on.
If there is one thing that is popping up all over the province of Ontario, it is senior housing accommodations. It is truly remarkable to see retirement homes being created across the GTA, Ontario, and even Canada. Even older retirement homes are being given a makeover.
In the end, however, you must realize that it isn’t what you want, but what your aging mother and/or father (or uncle and aunt) want. This is a hard transition to make, so you must be supportive from start to finish. Listen to their needs and wants, and they will be happy.
