Moving into assisted living is never an easy choice to make. After discussing the situation with your parent and weighing your options, you’ve decided that moving them into an assisted living community is the right choice. Now, it’s time to make the move happen.
Inspired Living at Ocoee provides the expertise you need on how to move a parent to assisted living to help your mom or dad move into a new, exciting phase of life.
Involve Your Parent in the Decision-Making Process
Moving into assisted living is often a difficult process for seniors. Many will feel disappointment at having less independence than they did in the past, even if they agree that the change is for the better. You can help your parent maintain a sense of independence by making it clear that you’re helping them choose instead of choosing for them.
Include your parent in discussions about their assisted living options whenever possible. Talk with them about what to look for in a senior community. Invite them to look at websites with you and join you on phone calls. Go through the information you find together instead of simply relaying it to them. If you arrange a tour of a community, take them with you to see it for themselves.
Research Your Options
It’s important to investigate your options to find assisted living communities that fit well with your parent’s needs, their lifestyle, and their budget. To make sure you get the information you need, make a list of key questions to ask at each community you consider. When possible, try to compare information from different sources, like reading reviews of a community that aren’t posted on their own website.
With the information you can find on the internet, you should be able to narrow your list of possible communities down to 2 or 3 top options. Then, you can investigate each option in more detail, such as through phone consultations and visiting their campuses for tours. Remember to involve your parent in these conversations whenever possible, especially if you can take them to visit the community in person.
Make a Plan
As with any major life change, it’s important to develop a practical, realistic plan for when and how your parent will move into their new community. When will they move in? Who will take them there and help them get settled in? Are they going to bring their dog or cat? How many of their belongings can they take with them, and what will they do with the rest?
Try to have answers to as many of these questions as possible well in advance of moving day. The more of these arrangements you can make beforehand, the less stress you and your parent will experience during the move. That way, if something turns out to be more complicated than you expected, you’ll have plenty of time to adjust your plans.
Financial planning will naturally be an important part of the overall moving plan. Inspired Living at Ocoee works with a number of trusted financial experts who can help you and your loved ones with budgeting, selling a home, insurance, and other financial matters. For more information, visit our Paying for Senior Living page.
Downsize, Pack, & Store Belongings
Naturally, your parent will take their most important belongings with them when they move into an assisted living community. However, even the largest of our floor plans won’t have as much storage space as the family home.
You and your parent will have to decide what to do with the belongings that don’t move with them. That could mean giving those items to family members for safekeeping, renting a storage space, or selling or donating them. Large or antique items might need special arrangements to be moved or stored.
When going through your parent’s belongings, try to involve them in the process as much as possible. Their possessions aren’t just “stuff”—they’re your parent’s life and memories in physical form. Some of those items might be more important to them than it seems at first glance.
Move In
After all your planning and preparation, it’s moving day! Besides physically moving to their new home, your parent will appreciate your emotional support during this major change in their lives. If you aren’t using professional movers, you might need to recruit family and friends to help load and unload your parent’s belongings.
Personalizing your parent’s new living space is an important part of moving. Helping them unpack and arrange their belongings will help them settle in and make their new accommodations feel like a home.
Establish a New Routine
The process of moving a parent into assisted living doesn’t end with unpacking boxes. Everyone needs time to adjust to new surroundings. You can help ease this transition by encouraging your parent to spend time with other residents and try new activities.
Visits from you and your family can also help your parent settle into their new surroundings, and prevent them from feeling like they’re being left behind. Doing meaningful activities together on your visits is a great way to stay connected with your parent. And of course, they’ll always love seeing their grandkids, too!
Your Next Steps
Moving your parent into assisted living is a big decision, but you don’t have to face it alone—Inspired Living at Ocoee is here to help. Contact us for more information!
