As much as your parents may think they want to live in the same house forever, reality is a lot different. The first few years of retirement go by quickly, and they soon realize that it’s maybe not as fun as they thought. There can a loneliness that comes with retirement because you and your family are still busy as usual, while your parents have loads of free time and nothing to do with it.
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The holidays soon dry up as they recognize it’s probably not too smart to spend all of their pension within a year or so of retiring. It then makes you stress because you worry about them doing nothing at home, so you feel like taking action. After a bit of research you discover that it’s probably best for them to move to a senior living community – but how do you approach this topic and help them transition to this new stage of their lives?
Explain The Idea Of A Senior Living Community
Start by sitting your parents down and discussing the main idea of senior living communities.
Make it abundantly clear that you’re not putting them in a care home.
Explain that these retirement communities are places where people of similar ages can live amongst one another. They still allow you to be 100% independent – it’s just that you’re living within a more private community with other retirees.
Sell the main points to them, such as:
- It’s much safer to live in a retirement community
- They’ll never get bored because there are always things to do
- They can opt to have chefs prepare their food if they want
- It’s normally a lot cheaper than staying in their old home
Once they understand the whole concept of a community like this, they slowly realize that it makes a lot of sense for them. Mostly, you must make them aware that they’re not being put in a home and they still have full autonomy over their life and schedule.
Visit Different Communities With Them
Much like you’d visit different homes before buying one, your parents should visit various senior living communities before committing to one. It’s important to accompany them on these visits so you can be an extra set of eyes and ears. Check the places over and ensure they provide your parents with everything they need.
This helps them find the ideal place to call home without signing up for something that’s not as it seems.
Help With The Move Across
This is the hardest part of transitioning from a regular house to a retirement community. Your parents need a lot of help selling their home, packing things up, and so on. Set aside some spare time to assist them with everything.
It’s good to show support during this stage so they don’t feel like they’ve been left out to dry. Make it as easy as possible for them (perhaps you can sell or dispose of old items they’ll never use anymore) so they have less to worry about. It makes the prospect of moving to a retirement community much easier to handle when they know moving home won’t be as challenging.
Your parents are at a difficult time in their lives where they have so many hours in a day to fill, but not a lot to fill them with. Transitioning to a retirement community makes loads of sense – but they need you to help with this. Follow these steps to assist throughout the process!
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