5 Important Qualities in a Senior Living Center
Transitioning to a senior living center is a major step in life and is not without its own stresses and hurdles. When you’re looking for a center to move into, you want to make sure you are going to get the best care possible. But what does that mean? Here are 5 important qualities to look for in a senior living center to make sure you are picking the best place to live.
- Look for comprehensive long-term care.
Choosing a senior home is a big decision, and probably not one that you are going to want to have to make repeatedly. Finding the home that is right for you is going to mean finding out what facility is equipped to provide the best care, and that means you need to consider how that care is going to play out in the long term.
You want to make sure that the place you’re moving to is going to offer comprehensive in-home care. That means things like dental, counseling, podiatry, and other kinds of important care. Make sure that whoever is going to be taking care of you is licensed and qualified, and make sure that they understand the difficulties seniors like you are going to be facing on a regular basis.
Things like eating, staying active, and sleeping are going to get harder with age. The less you have to go and see someone else for, the better off you are going to be.
- Find good palliative care.
Once you’re sure that the place you’re moving to has a comprehensive long-term care plan, you want to make sure they also have good palliative care. These two types are different and not all facilities will have high standards for both.
While long term care is about having someone comprehensive for all of your needs, palliative care is about having a dedicated team to work on a specific illness you may have. This can be more expensive for senior living centers to provide and so not all of them do.
- Find short term care that works with what you want.
Short term care is another important aspect of proper care. Providing the best kind of environment for someone who is about to pass is extremely important, and something that most people will want to have input into. Finding short term care that will work with your wishes is a big plus.
- Find Community Involvement.
One of the biggest challenges that comes from moving to a senior living center is not having the same people around you that you used to. It can sometimes be hard to socialize in a healthy way, and many seniors centers don’t have good programs in place for interacting with other residents.
It’s important to make sure that the people you’re living with are also part of your life. This will make living in a senior center a much better experience.
- Search for stable homes.
Even though they provide a service that benefits everyone, nursing homes are closing across the United States. Through a combination of declining medicaid support, an increase in nursing demand, there is a lot of strain being placed on nursing homes. That on top of the growing number of retirees means that finding a stable home is going to be that much more important.
Look for homes that are non-profits and are associated with a charitable or religious association that backs them. Some senior centers have the financial support of a donor organization.
Conclusion.
Finding the right senior living center is about finding a place that can become your home. You want to look for care that’s going to meet your needs the whole time you are there, faculty who care about you, and other residents to spend time with.
Above all, remember that you are looking for a new home, and that means finding people who will treat you like family.
Written for Columbia Lutheran Home by LAURIE LARSON
