There’s no feeling like coming home after a long day. As seniors age, it becomes important to them that they have a home in which they can feel safe, relaxed, and secure. However, this can become a major sticking point that makes seniors unwilling to move to care communities like assisted living.
Many seniors want to age in place, or have a single home that they live in for as long as possible. For most, this means their family home. But, as they age, more and more older adults need assistance that they cannot provide for themselves — which makes staying at home difficult on themselves and their families.
Rather than aging in place at a family home, assisted living provides seniors with opportunities to age in a community that can provide them with care and personal services — along with other benefits — as needed, rather than moving multiple times when new care concerns arise.
Why Seniors Think They Need to Live at Home
Seniors want to stay in their familiar homes for many reasons, which aren’t limited to but can include:
- Wanting to be close to family and friends
- Staying independent for as long as possible
- Having a place they can call their own
- Not wanting to burden or trouble their families with a move to a senior care community
- Guilt or shame about growing older
- Wanting to avoid thinking about serious health concerns
Many seniors also have images in their heads of dull and dreary nursing homes, where they are confined to small rooms and lose all their self-sufficiency in a single day. There also is a common misconception about how much senior living costs. Aging adults might think staying at home is a less expensive option, when the opposite is often true.
Learn more about different types of retirement communities and senior living.
Challenges that Arise Later in Life
It’s a sad but true fact that many seniors experience a steep decline in their ability to care for themselves after they turn 70. In fact, over 75% of seniors have a serious chronic illness they likely need assistance with, and health concerns can’t always be addressed by a family member.
The longer a senior and their family wait to start looking at senior care options, the more limited their options become. It’s hard to find the right place to meet a seniors’ individual needs when:
- Dealing with a time crunch
- A senior is struggling with memory loss
- There isn’t time to mentally adjust to moving
- You aren’t sure what care needs a loved one might need in the future
Here's what you need to know about long-term care planning to prevent these challenges.
In addition, moving to senior living when there is no longer a choice can make things physically, emotionally, and mentally draining on both seniors and their families. And having in-home care when looking for living arrangements can become incredibly expensive. Long-term care insurance can help with the different costs of senior living communities.
Benefits of Aging in Place with Assisted Living
Assisted living communities understand the fears and reluctance that seniors have about leaving their family home. They work to provide a comfortable environment where seniors get the care they need as new conditions and needs develop over time.
When seniors make the move to assisted living before their condition becomes dire, they have time to readjust to a new community. Most assisted living communities even provide catered living for seniors who don’t need specific care services yet, but want some of the messy parts of life like laundry and cleaning taken care of for them.
Assisted living provides a variety of services that don’t take independence away from seniors, but give help in needed areas. These areas include:
- Bathing & dressing
- Personal care
- Moving around the community
- Medication management
- Housekeeping
- Meal planning & cooking
Moving to assisted living also helps reduce the stress on family members. Living at a family home may seem like a great idea for seniors, until they need everyday help and a child or other family member has to put their career and personal life on hold to become a full-time caregiver.
Living Independently and Aging in Place at Vista Springs
Assisted living communities like Vista Springs offer many benefits that seniors can’t get when they age at a family home. These include:
- Socialization opportunities
- Dining events and culinary treats
- Security and safety features
- The ability to decorate your own apartment to your tastes
- A continuum of care services
- Daily activities and entertainment options
- Luxury living
- Financial benefits
Vista Springs offers everything from catered living to skilled nursing care to hospice and palliative care for end-of-life services. With this wide array of options, seniors can find a new home and age in place at Vista Springs!
It’s important for seniors to feel comfortable and secure in their home as they age. But living at home can create problems down the line. When seniors move to assisted living before a situation becomes desperate, they can enjoy incredible benefits during their golden years.
