When is the Right Time – Is Your Parent Ready for Assisted Living?

Seniors generally don’t take kindly to any type of change. Bringing up the idea of assisted living has to be done at just the right time so that they don’t completely shut out the thought. Too early, and the idea might be blocked from their mind forever; too late, and your senior parent might experience a substantially lower quality of life, perhaps from life in a wheelchair or with severe physical damage from an injury. Adult Care Advisors can help you figure out when and if your parents are ready for the move into an assisted living community.

• Dealing with Change: The idea might sound completely foreign to senior parents if they think they are perfectly healthy. Fairly set in their ways, it is going to take a lot of work to convince them to consider assisted living as a lifestyle in the near future. Overwhelmed by the idea that they might be more of a burden than a help at home, while feeling a sense of abandonment and maybe even fear could impede their rational thinking on the matter.
• Physical and Emotional Signs: It is not uncommon for children to miss the usual signs that indicate a senior parent’s need for adult care. Typically, these signs fall into two categories – physical and emotional. Upon paying closer attention, you might find your parent behaving ‘differently’.
• The Checklist: Here is what you need to check for when deciding whether your senior parent is ready for assisted living. ­ Have you noticed your parent has lost a substantial amount of weight? ­ Have you noticed food going bad in the fridge even though your parent tells you he or she is eating properly? ­ Have you noticed frequent bruising on your parent, and is he or she trying to hide it from you? ­ Does your parent seem to be ignoring basic hygiene, wearing dirty clothes and with uncombed hair? ­ Is the house or garden being maintained in the neat fashion it always used to be? ­ Is your parent able to take regular medication correctly? If even a few of these questions resulted in the answer ‘yes’, then your parents may need senior care. They are probably suited for assisted living if they only need help with everyday tasks but require no medical aid.

Get in touch with our team at Adult Care Advisors for more information on senior care and assisted living communities in New Jersey.