Choosing a retirement community can be stressful. You need to consider your health, the location, and the amenities, but you also want to ensure that you’ll like living there for years to come. While it’s easy enough to look at pictures of a senior-friendly independent living community and talk with team members, other factors are involved in ensuring that your new home is right for you.
If you’re considering moving into an assisted living community or senior residence after decades of living on your own, keep these tips in mind as you start searching for an assisted living location.
Find Out the Rules and Regulations Before You Move
Senior-friendly independent living communities are not all the same. You should investigate the rules and regulations of any community you’re considering. For example, some Retirement communities allow pets while others do not. Some allow smoking in designated areas while others do not. Some allow guests to visit at any time, while others have strict visiting hours or limit visitors to one or two per week, depending on your needs and preferences!
Finding out about these rules upfront will help ensure that you’re happy with your choice of assisted living location.
Ask About Levels of Care
Ask about the levels of care offered at the senior-friendly independent living community and what each level entails. This will help you determine if the level of care is sufficient for your needs. If it is, you can move on to other factors such as location, price, and senior living amenities. However, it’s important to note that even if a community offers multiple levels of care, not all residents will need them all.
It is also possible that some residents may want more help than they are allotted or want less help than they are allotted. In this case, the team members might offer suggestions for how to adjust their care plan to meet those needs better.
In some cases, they may even move them into a different section within their current community where there would be fewer responsibilities but still plenty of opportunities for socialization with peers who have similar interests and hobbies from previous years when active members were able to go out more often without assistance.
What Amenities Can You Use?
Many assisted living communities offer amenities like swimming pools, gyms, libraries, gardens, and cafés. They may also have laundry services available on-site. Additionally, some senior-friendly independent living communities have elevators for all residents’ convenience when traveling between floors. Senior-friendly independent living communities also typically employ security systems and 24/7 care services as well as other amenities depending on the location or preferences of the owner or manager of the building.
Consider the Layout of the Individual Apartments
The layout of your apartment will also be important. While you might be used to a larger space, you may need to downsize and do with less space in assisted living. The size of the bedroom is important, as well as how much storage space is available in your unit. Another factor that must be considered is whether or not there is a kitchenette included in your unit. Some prefer having their own kitchens so they can cook their own meals rather than having to eat at the dining hall or restaurant within the community.
When choosing an assisted living community for yourself or for loved ones, it’s important to consider all these factors before making any final decisions about where they’ll live out their golden years!
There’s no time like the present to start planning for your retirement years. The more you know about assisted living communities now, the easier it will be when your time comes. And when you’re ready to move into an assisted living community, we hope this guide helps!
