Your parents have always been your rock, and you’ve always turned to them for advice. But as they age, your parents often need your guidance and input as they make decisions regarding retirement. When you become concerned that they should no longer live on their own, however, it can be difficult if they resist the idea. If you genuinely believe that senior living might be the best option for your aging parents, but they are reluctant to consider it, here are a few tips that may change their minds over time.
You should never expect someone to make a life-changing decision overnight, so have patience in the process.
- Take Their Objections Seriously: The best way to learn more about why your parents might be so reticent to enter senior living is to truly listen to their objections without judgment. Your mom or Dad may simply want to remain at home, just as 76 percent of seniors in a recent survey revealed. Significant life changes can cause anxiety, and your parents have many years worth of memories in their home. They may think that senior living is too expensive or be worried about feeling alone. Just listen to what they have to say without trying to convince them of your viewpoint.
- Discuss the Benefits: Senior living residences are designed to help senior adults maximize their health and wellness, create new relationships, and enjoy an appropriate amount of daily assistance. If your parents are reluctant to consider assisted living, it might be because they have misconceptions about the benefits of senior community living. If you aren’t sure about these benefits yourself, schedule an appointment with a senior living community.
- Bring Them on a Tour: The best way to understand what life looks like in a senior living community is to experience it. If you feel your parents are willing to give it a chance, set up some tours of local assisted living facilities. On a tour, you can meet staff and residents, view apartment floorplans, participate in a planned activity, or share a meal in the dining room.
- Discuss It with Medical Personnel: Sometimes, older adults living without supervision can result in a dangerous situation. Your loved ones might even experience loneliness or depression to the point that it is causing a decreased quality of life. Moving into a senior living residence may be necessary to keep your parents healthy and safe, both physically and emotionally. If this is the case, you may need their physician to discuss the merits of assisted living with them.
- Discuss the Budget Together: Most seniors assume that senior living communities are too expensive for their fixed income. However, senior living communities provide an all-inclusive living situation for one monthly fee, often similar to their expenses when living at home. Listen to your parents’ concerns about money, and then help them to do the math. Include their financial advisor, if they have one, to discuss their budget and how assisted living fits into that reality.
It may take some time for your parents to warm up to the idea of moving into an adult living residence, but if you think it is best for them, readdress the topic as necessary. Remind them that they will make friends, have no daily household responsibilities, will have their meals provided, and they can enjoy their freedom! Assisted living can be a worthwhile and fulfilling next phase of life.
A Banyan Residence is an assisted living and memory care center located in Venice, Florida.
