It is natural and admirable for you to want to care for your loved one yourself. However, this is not always possible, for any number of reasons. Maybe you are working too many hours to properly care for them, or maybe the strain of trying to care for your loved one is affecting your relationship and mental health. Whatever the reason might be, it is perfectly acceptable and understandable that you might look for an alternative way to provide your loved one with the care they require, and often this is the best thing for both you and your loved one. Assisted living is a brilliant solution to this problem. This article aims to explain exactly what assisted living is, its benefits and drawbacks and discuss how to tell whether assisted living is the right way for you to go.
What is Assisted Living
Assisted living facilities are communities designed to house and care for senior citizens who have entered a stage in their life where they need more care than can be easily provided by those close to them. Facilities, such as Belmont Village assisted living San Diego, offer the best quality care for residents living in their facilities and aim to provide them with a new lease on life. With their needs provided for their residents can just focus on enjoying themselves, with access to many people their own age and interesting activities to engage with. Ultimately, assisted living facilities are intended to be a new beginning for your loved one and a chance to fully enjoy their golden years.
Why You Might Consider Assisted Living
There are many reasons you might be considering moving your loved one to an assisted living facility. Most commonly, it is because you are not able to provide the quality of care that you believe your loved one deserves. However, it could also be because you believe they require more social engagement or even because your loved one has expressed an interest in gong to live in an assisted living facility. Ultimately, what matters is that you are considering it and that means you should be engaging in an open and honest conversation with your loved one.
The Benefits of Assisted Living
Now that you know exactly what assisted living is and why you might be considering it, you are probably wondering what benefits assisted living will offer to your loved one. Well, there are a long list of benefits that assisted living facilities offer to their residents. However, the most pertinent of these are highlighted below:
Healthy Environment.
Once someone reaches an advanced age, maintaining their health, both physical and mental, becomes an incredibly important step to securing their happiness and longevity. Unfortunately, most senior citizens struggle with maintaining their health in one way or another, be it healthy eating, regular exercise or sticking to a regular routine. This can severely compromise their health and subject them to a much poorer quality of life, which is why assisted living facilities take such particular steps to ensure their residents have access to all the support they need to maintain their health. From professionally overseen exercise areas to catered meals, these facilities are incredibly beneficial to the health of their residents.
Social Engagement and Entertainment.
Interacting with one’s peers and staying properly stimulated is vital to the health and happiness of any person, especially one who has reached an advanced age. However, it is never more difficult to stay connected to your friends and colleagues than when you have entered your golden years, which can make life difficult. Fortunately, assisted living facilities take care to connect their residents so that your loved ones can form strong and lasting friendships that keep them interacting with their peers. In addition to this, these facilities are sure to keep their residents engaged in a variety of enjoyable activities giving them access to a myriad of ways to enjoy their new social engagement as well.
Constant Access to Medical Treatment.
It is no secret that elderly folk require significantly more healthcare than your average person. This can be a terribly dull and irksome experience for your loved ones as they are forced to run the gambit of the medical system far more often than any young person, which can be both time consuming and frustrating. Assisted living facilities, on the other hand, keep well trained and dedicated medical staff on hand to ensure that any needs their residents might have are swiftly and efficiently seen to, which can really help to cut down on the frustration of this experience and could even save your loved one’s life in case of a medical emergency.
The Drawbacks of Assisted Living
While there are many benefits to moving your loved one to an assisted living facility there are also the possibility of drawbacks. Potential drawbacks to an assisted living facility are outlined below.
Cost.
Assisted living facilities can be an expensive investment, which means you need to seriously consider whether you can afford one.
Willingness.
If your loved one does not want to move to an assisted living facility, then it may be a cause of significant friction between you, especially if there are few other options.
Distance.
Unfortunately, the best facilities are not guaranteed to be nearby, which could mean that providing your loved one with the care they need could mean moving them away from you.
How to Decide If Assisted Living Is Right for Your Loved One
Ultimately, there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to deciding whether or not an assisted living facility is going to be the right choice for your loved one, and often the best thing you can do is open the channel of communications between you and your loved one. This is a choice that is going to affect your entire family and is not something that should be taken lightly, so do your research and be sure to talk to your loved one as much as possible to find out what is going to be best for everyone involved.
