1. Don't Wait for an Event

Start the process before your loved one has that fall, gets sick, or has a car accident. Seniors who choose to move into senior living community's are actually living longer because they have the ability to socialize with other like-minded people. Typically, senior living communities have waiting lists that can range from a few months all the way to a year!

2. Ask the Business Plan

"Aging-In-Place" communities allow any level of health care to be privately contracted to come into your loved one's unit. This means they can literally live there for the rest of their lives throughout the aging process, including bringing in Hospice care when needed. A Continuing Care Retirement Community is when a larger health care system moves your loved one from one campus, or building, to another when their needs change as opposed to keeping them in one place. 

3. Rental vs. Entry Fee

All senior living community's are different, especially how they collect your loved one's money. Some community's (like Sunset Wood) have rental agreements where services are included for a monthly fee agreed to in a 1-year lease. Other community's charge an entrance fee, that can range from $25,000 - $300,000, which will affect the amount you pay per month over the course of your stay.

4. Get the Unit THEN Sell the House!

After you tour all of the community's and find the perfect place for your loved one, make sure you sign an agreement with the senior living community before you list your home. Don't be one of those people who sell their loved one's home and then they do not have any place to live because the community doesn't have an apartment available yet!

5. Ask About Advocacy

While your loved one goes through the aging process, does the community provide you, the family member, with a dedicated staff member to help you make hard decisions regarding your loved one's needs? Having a dedicated person on staff to help tenants and family members not only leads to a higher quality of life for the senior living there, it also helps family members feel like they can enjoy quality time with their loved one without becoming a "care giver."

BONUS TIP: WHERE’S THE WELLNESS?

Does the community provide a comprehensive Wellness Program with on-site therapy, technology to measure results, and a multi-faceted approach? Or does the community plan generic activities that won't keep your loved one challenged and growing while living there? Seniors need to be engaged and challenged on a daily basis to remain independent longer, so be sure that the community has ways of keeping your loved one active as much as they would enjoy.

Voted Best Local Apartment Complex
for 2019 Observer Dispatch's Best of the Best