How To Reduce the Stress of Moving to a Senior Living Community

Moving to a senior living community is an exciting opportunity to start anew. As you may have found, these communities offer vast opportunities for enrichment, connection, and a maintenance-free life. While you may be excited about this adventure, moving can also be stressful. Here are some ways to ensure a smooth, stress-free move.

Embrace Opportunities to Make Friends

As the new person on the block, it’s critical to take every opportunity to meet new people and build connections. Having friends in your new home will go a long way in minimizing your stress. Friends offer social and emotional support that can help you navigate this transition, feel less lonely, and find a sense of belonging. Plus, since everyone in your community has already been through the move to a senior community, their empathy and understanding can make it much easier to adjust to this stage of life.

Downsize the Right Way

Throughout your life, you’ve likely amassed family heirlooms, keepsakes, trinkets, furniture, and many more items you don’t want to part with. While you might have to downsize, the good news is that you don’t have to part with your most loved possessions.

Think of downsizing as a way to declutter and have a fresh start. Downsizing offers many benefits: it’s easier to stay organized, takes less time to clean, and makes your home easier to navigate. Plus, you’ll have a collection of treasured items to personalize your new space.

Downsizing is much less stressful if you take some time to get organized beforehand. Here are some tips to simplify the process:

Start the downsizing process well in advance to avoid rushing and feeling overwhelmed.
Set aside a folder with your important documents and paperwork to ensure they don’t get lost in the move.
Create a timeline with realistic, flexible deadlines. Do your best to adhere to these dates, but give yourself grace as some tasks will take longer than anticipated.
Visit your apartment before the move to get an idea of its layout and square footage. This will help you plan what to keep.
Go room by room and label each item according to what you want to keep, sell, donate, and throw away.
Enlist the help of loved ones or friends to help you pack, sell, donate, and throw away your things.

Have a Candid Conversation With Your Loved Ones

Your decision to move into a senior community may surprise your adult children. They may have questions and concerns—don’t worry, this is normal. Your loved ones have an instinct to protect you and want you to be happy, safe, and cared for. They may also fear that you will lose touch with other family members and friends. Your attitude toward the move can impact your children’s feelings about it.

Have a transparent conversation with them about your decision. Talk openly about your needs, wants, and expectations around this move—and make sure your children have space to share theirs, too. Create a plan to ensure you stay in touch and spend plenty of time together. Invite them to tour communities with you or ask them to assist you with the logistics of your move. The more included they feel in the process, the more likely they will feel confident about the move.

Consider Your Ideal Lifestyle

It’s important to consider your lifestyle as you evaluate senior communities. The right senior community should enhance your life. Find one that offers a robust, vibrant calendar of events and endless ways to connect with others. When you tour communities, observe the culture and talk to residents and the care team. Look for a community with appealing amenities, like a fitness center or art studio, to ensure you have the space and resources to enjoy your hobbies.

Stress Less by Moving Into Oak Trace

Finding the right senior living community is imperative. At Oak Trace, we have systems in place to reduce the stress of moving. We partner with a professional team of third-party movers who specialize in helping seniors move into their new communities. In addition, you will have continual contact with a dedicated move-in coordinator to ensure a smooth move. Once you get the keys to your new home, our vast community events, services, and amenities will ensure you move in without missing a beat.