Senior living can be a complicated matter when you look at all the things there is to consider. Yet sometimes, all it takes is watching the essential concerns, to nudge you towards the right senior living choice. You are one person who more or less knows his/her own needs, and while generalizations can be helpful, your particular situation is what applies when choosing an option for senior care.
How well do you Manage your Current Home?
If you live independently at present, then good for you. Or is it? You might not admit it openly, but it might be getting hard to move around inside your home, at least sometimes. Is it on a steep hill, or are there too many stairs to climb to get to the bedroom? Has it been getting harder to go out because you dread the physical exertion? Or maybe there is increased crime in the area. For whatever reason, if you stay cooped up for too long, feelings of isolation and loneliness won’t be far off.
If you feel senior care homes to be stifling, hiring a personal aide for home health instead can fix some of your problems. You could also try getting family members to visit more often; maybe have them help in shaping up the place. Nevertheless, if you wish to avoid maintenance and upkeep responsibilities, you should think about moving to an independent senior living facility.
Are you Removed from Friends and Family?
One problem with isolation is that this invites depression and other mental health problems. It might become hard to get out of the house. This may be for other reasons as well, such as mobility issues. Human contact can be put off by other factors, such the people you know being busy with other commitments, or if the neighborhood becomes hard to get around.
In an independent senior living facility, you can have your own social network of peers, and keep close through shared activities that suit almost everyone. If you don’t prefer that, hire an in-home caregiver instead. That would make sure you have someone to, at least, communicate with.
How well do you get Around the Place?
If the area you live in requires driving to make social calls, these will almost certainly grow fewer with time. Even recreation and shopping will take a hit, once you begin to tire of driving. Keeping doctors’ appointments can become a chore, as will many other things.
Moving to a senior care facility can bring everything within easy reach, or facilitate transportation services, which work to the same effect. Hiring a home health care provider would also be of great help here, and it is usually opted by those who prefer to stay in their comfort zone, which is at their own home.