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Originally Posted On: How To Find the Right Senior Living for Mom and Dad – The Pointe at Meridian Senior Living in Meridian, ID

 

Are you concerned about your mom and dad during their later years? All children want their parents to enjoy their golden years. You also want to make sure they get professional care when they need to.

You should consider a senior living home for your parents. These are places where mom and dad can enjoy comfortable living.

They’ll also have the privacy of their own living quarters. They’ll also have a community of other seniors as well as professional care at their disposal.

But how do you find the best senior living for your parents?

Here’s what you should consider.

1. Go on Tours on Your Own

Before you speak to your parents about the right senior living options, you should go on tours on your own. You should expect that your parents might feel reluctant about moving into senior communities.

In many cases, parents have to get convinced that senior living communities are what’s best for them. You have to work as the marketer for the best senior living option available.

Go on a tour and learn as much about the senior living community as you can. Make sure to ask questions to the staff about what the community offers.

Address the concerns that you feel your parents will have. You can use the tours to assess which is the best option for mom and dad.

During this time you can also ask for payment options. Once you start preparing a shortlist, you can figure out if your parent’s insurance can help pay for the senior homes.

After you create your shortlist, make sure to find online reviews, testimonials, and see if you can speak to residents and their children to gather their feedback.

2. Pay Attention to the Staff

When you take your tour or visit a senior living community, pay attention closely to the staff. Even if your parents are quite independent, they will occasionally need to depend on the care of the staff.

You want to make sure the staff treats the seniors well. Your first concern should be to inquire about any cases of elder abuse. The senior living community must be upfront if there have been any cases.

If there were, ask them what they did to remedy this situation. Make sure you also do your own research on the safety of seniors in a particular community.

You’ve also got to make sure that staff is friendly to the seniors. Observe the manners and cadence between the seniors and the staff. Pay close attention to how well the staff works with difficult seniors or seniors with severe distress.

3. Pay Attention to the Seniors

Next, you’ve also got to observe how the seniors feel in the community. For example, do the seniors appear to be happy in the community?

You can ask the management if you can speak to any of the residents in the community.

You can ask the seniors if they enjoy living in the community and what benefits they enjoy. If you meet other children, speak to them on why they chose that particular community for their mom and dad.

You also want to know about what activities are available for the seniors. There should be recreation and other avenues for seniors to interact with each other and enjoy their time.

You want to make sure the seniors pass their time well. For those that have independent living, do they interact with others? Or do they isolate themselves in their rooms? For recreation, do many seniors play tabletop games or watch television all day long?

Always choose a senior community where the residents seem to enjoy their lives there. It should not seem like a prison for seniors! 

Many seniors balk at the idea of senior communities because some of them are poorly-run. Make sure you choose the right senior living option wisely.

4. Learn About the Care Facilities

Even if your parents are in good health, you want to learn about the care services that are offered in the senior community.

You want to know if there are full-time medical staff in the community. If not, you want to inquire about how far the senior community is from a hospital.

Make sure you ask the Managing Director about the care facilities available to seniors.

You want to know if rooms have hospital beds and other medical assistance. Do residents have easy methods for calling out for medical help in an emergency?

It’s wise to learn about what assisted living options are there in a senior community. Speak to the residents about how they feel about the care options. Speak to other children on whether they are satisfied with the care options for mom and dad.

5. Speak to Mom and Dad

Once you’ve prepared your shortlist of senior communities, it’s time to have a sit down with mom and dad.

You want to let them know why you wish for them to move to a senior living community. Let them know about the extensive research you did to assess the best options.

Explain to them the benefits of the senior homes and why they’ll love their time there. This is also the time to listen to their needs.

Both mom and dad might have different desires for a senior home. Listen to both of them and figure out which senior home can work best for both of their wants and needs.

If your parents are reluctant, you have to be patient with them. It might take time to convince them that a senior community is best for them.

Consider doing a second round of tours with them. Once they see the community firsthand, they might feel more comfortable.

Come to the Best Senior Living

If you follow the steps in this guide, you’ll be sure to find the best senior living for your mom and dad. Take your time to research a community and to inquire about its benefits.

You must always take your parent’s wishes into consideration. Learn about what will best suit them so you can find the ideal living situation during their later years.

Are your parents living in Meridian, Idaho? If so, they will love staying at The Pointe at Meridian. Reach out to us today to learn about our leasing options.