If you have an elderly loved one, you may be curious as to the various retirement living options out there, one of them being assisted living. The U.S. is home to more than 28,900 active assisted living communities, so families like yours are spoiled for choice. One of the best ways to figure out which assisted living community your loved one is best suited for is to visit them for a guided tour. If your loved one displays resistance and fear when it comes to touring an assisted living community, here’s how you can ease their worries and possibly get them on board.
Start the Conversation Early
One of the worst ways you could bring up the topic of touring assisted living communities to your loved one is by taking them by surprise. Rather than suddenly bringing up the topic in front of them, we recommend that you do it early. Starting the conversation about assisted living communities early gives them time to think about the pros and cons of assisted living, as well as why entering an assisted living community is good for them.
Try and Try Again
While you don’t want to be constantly hassling your loved one about touring an assisted living community, it doesn’t hurt to try again. Many older adults that are happily living in assisted living communities today also began with great reluctance before eventually settling down. By making the conversation about touring assisted living communities a more open and continuous one, you can expect each time to be more fruitful than the next.
Enlist Help
Two heads are better than one, so if you feel like you aren’t making any progress, you may want to enlist the help of a third party to make your standpoint seem more convincing. If you know anybody that your loved one highly respects the opinion of and might be more receptive toward, there’s no harm in reaching out to them for help, whether it’s their close friend or another relative.
Do Personal Research
Your loved one might take a long time to come around to the idea of visiting an assisted living community, leading to a lot of lost time. Rather than rushing them into visiting a community which will lead to them resisting further, you can consider visiting a few assisted living locations on your own. If not, you may find yourself struggling to fully explore all the options in your area, which can be extremely stressful for both you and your loved one.
Keep Yourself Emotionally Stable
Being your loved one’s primary caregiver at home can be a stressful experience that can be further exacerbated during the transitional period of your loved one moving into assisted living, especially if your loved one isn’t cooperating. Hence, always make sure that you have the emotional support you need from your social circle as you continue doing the right thing for your aging loved one to prevent yourself from experiencing burnout.
Still on the search for assisted living communities for your loved one? Our retirement community‘s assisted living option might be for you!
