Moving a parent to a senior Alaska housing community may be in their best interest, but you should expect the move to be met with some resistance. No one likes to admit that they are losing the ability to function independently. When the result includes having to leave a long-time family residence, anxiety is further magnified. Getting your parent to accept the move will be easier if you follow three steps. Preparing and Planning for Assisted Living in Anchorage will make transitioning easier.
- Involve your parent in selecting the new residence. As a son or daughter planning to move a parent to an assisted living facility, you should initially choose a potential residence on your own. Considerations include location, cost, and quality of the facility, among others. You may need to visit several complexes to find one that appears to best suit family needs. Making the initial choice by yourself will avoid increasing stress on your parent. Once you are satisfied that a complex may meet the needs and concerns of your parent, schedule time for both of you to attend a meal and take a guided tour.
Take adequate time at the lunch and tour to look at available apartments and envision how furnishings might be arranged. Talk to residents to learn how they feel about food, treatment by staff, and what scheduled activities are available. Observe how staff interacts with residents. If your parent has hobbies and special interests, discuss how the facility can meet those needs. There are dozens of practical and financial questions that should be asked, but the most important goal is to learn whether your parent feels comfortable with the complex as a potential future home.
- Have your parent assist in choosing what items will be moved. Once a facility has been chosen and moving day scheduled, have your parent help choose what furnishings and personal belongings will be moved. Take measurements of the future apartment to help guide choices of what furnishings can be taken. Most likely, the move will require substantial downsizing. Cooking will likely be limited to a microwave since main meals will likely be served in a community dining hall. Few items will be required from the home kitchen.
Once space has been allocated for the basics such as a bed, dresser, couch, chairs, and TV, determine how much space remains for larger items such as bookcases, chairs, and small tables. As your parent chooses which larger items to take, determine if there will be sufficient space. If not, work with your parent to select a viable option. Have your parent select books, pictures, and personal belongings to be moved. You will be working with limited space, but the more your parent feels they are involved in choosing the important things to move, the more likely that the move will be accepted.
- Coordinate the move, so your parent feels at home on day one. This may be the most important step to ensure a successful move. Schedule the movers for mid-morning and, before they arrive, have another family member or friend take your parent out for lunch and activities that will keep them busy until late afternoon. Get help from another friend to assist in moving in and out. Since there will be a limited number of items being moved, less than an hour should be needed on either end for the movers.
Meet the movers at the senior Alaska housing community to direct placement of furniture. Once the furnishings are in place, you and your friend begin transforming the apartment. Make the bed, put books on shelves, and hang up clothes in the closet and towels in the bathroom. Put items in the dresser just as they were at home. Ideally, move the drawers with everything in place. Decorate with beloved knick-knacks. Hang pictures on walls. Connect the TV to cable, and be sure it is working.
Stock the cupboards and refrigerator with snacks, drinks, soup, microwave meals, and other favorite food. Set fruit on the counter. Add a vase of flowers to the main room. In short, do whatever you can in about four hours to unpack and make the apartment look much like the home your parent left a few hours ago.
When your parent walks in the door and familiar furnishings and lifetime mementos in a neat and organized apartment, much of the anxiety might diminish. Give a quick tour explaining where items have been stored. Hopefully, your parent will comfortable in this new version of home.
Moving is always a stressful experience. In these circumstances, both you and your loved one will feel the pressure. You can do a lot to take on most of that stress and work to reduce your parent’s anxiety. Involving your parent and coordinating the move will help ease your loved one’s transition to assisted living. Here are some other tips on picking an assisted living facility in Alaska.
Baxter Senior Living providing Senior Alaska Housing community in Anchorage. We will provide seniors an option to remain living in Anchorage. If you are seeking Assisted living in Anchorage AK, or Assisted Living in Alaska please contact us today to make your reservations. Baxter Senior care is also providing Memory Care in Anchorage (907) 891-9696 or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch! contact us Learn more about Baxter Senior Living Alaska Memory Care Services and Facilities.
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