Moving to a senior community is an exciting decision, filled with the promise of new connections and experiences. While you may be looking forward to the transition, your adult children may be surprised, concerned, or have questions about your choice. Here are some tips on how to get a better understanding of their perspective and address their questions and concerns ahead of your move.
Emotional Well-Being
Moving into a new community can be an emotional transition for both you and your adult children. Your children may be concerned about your emotional well-being after your move, fearing that you might feel lonely or isolated.
Senior living communities know how important their residents’ well-being is—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. This is why these communities offer various activities, amenities, and events that are designed to foster happiness and good health. Community culture also has a big part to play in your well-being. When you live in a community that provides a friendly, connected, and enriching culture, it’s easier to stay emotionally healthy.
Reassure your children of this by sharing what specific things you’re looking forward to doing in your new community. This could be attending community mixers to meet like-minded neighbors, or joining a book club or cooking club. Maybe you’re looking forward to connecting with others at the community fitness class, or excited to try your hand at a new hobby, like painting or woodworking.
Good Quality Care
Your children care about you. They want to know that wherever you live, you have access to help if you need it. They also want to trust that this move will enhance your quality of life. If they bring up this concern, share the ways a senior living community can support your care and wellness needs. This could be through an on-site health center, custom wellness plans, professional health experts to provide guidance, and state-of-the-art amenities, like a community fitness center.
In addition, share the different levels of care offered in your community. If you’re moving to a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), you can get additional types of care in the comfort of your community with professionals who know your health needs and history. In addition, at many communities, there’s always someone on call to provide assistance if you need it. This can give your children peace of mind that your health needs are accounted for.
Maintaining Family Connections
Your children may worry that you will lose touch with your loved ones or not be as close as you once were after you move. Whether you were living with one of your adult children or in your own home, they are used to seeing you at specific times—and this move may bring up fears that you won’t be able to spend as much time together. Reassure them that while things may change, this is an opportunity to reset expectations. In a community, you can have as many visitors as you’d like whenever you’d like. You can of course also leave the community at any time and accompany them on family vacations or outings as usual.
Financial Implications
Covering the cost of senior living is a key consideration for both you and your adult children. When you choose a Life Care Community, you won’t have to worry about unpredictable costs or paying to move to a new community should your care needs change. Instead, you can stay in the comfort of your community and trust that your costs will remain predictable according to your Life Care contract. This makes financial planning much easier for you and your loved ones.
Fear of the Unknown
Your adult children may not fully understand the benefits of senior living, and these unknowns can cause feelings of fear or uncertainty. The best way to help them face this fear is to tour communities together. The more involved they are in helping you find a community, the more confident they will feel with your plan. If you’ve already chosen a community, go visit it together so that your children can see the community for themselves. This can help them visualize all of the fun and fulfillment you will find in your new community, putting this fear at ease.
Discover More About Life at Oak Trace
You deserve to be excited about this next step in your life’s journey. A collaborative approach can make the transition to a senior community a positive one. Getting support from your loved ones is only one part of the equation—work with your community’s team to ensure a smooth move. At Oak Trace, our helpful team is here to support you every step of the way.
We welcome you to schedule a tour or attend one of our events to ensure our community is the right fit for your lifestyle.
