The WoW Style

It isn’t always possible to find just the right independent living arrangement close to home. However, the word ‘close’ doesn’t necessarily need to relate to distance. In this sense, close refers to having a resemblance to a place where you have lived many, many years of your life. If you are tasked with the responsibility of finding an independent living home for your aging parents, this is something you may wish to consider. There really are several benefits to keeping their new home as similar to the family home as possible. Let’s explore a few of those now.

1. Mitigating Fear of New Places

Being somewhat afraid or uncomfortable in new surroundings isn’t something that only seniors or small children experience. Everyone has a comfort zone and for many, being in a strange place causes an undue amount of stress. If you find the right senior residence, your parents may feel like they simply remodeled their home to some degree. While it isn’t always possible to set it up exactly the same, you can carry over some of their most cherished bits of décor so that they are surrounded with familiar things. 

For example, the Holiday Retirement community of Independent Living Buffalo Grove IL has a staff that helps make the transition as smooth as possible. Because there are many levels of assisted living and 24/7 staff on premises at all times, you also can feel safe that this ‘new place’ will be remarkably like home with the exception of fewer chores and responsibilities. Who wouldn’t love that?

2. Easy to Locate Things

Another benefit to creating a living space that closely resembles home is the ease at which your aging mother or father can quickly locate something they are in need of. This is so important because a small amount of stress can lead to a huge episode of anger. It isn’t always a sign of impending dementia, but it doesn’t take much to frustrate and anger a senior. With that being said, it is also a good idea to monitor your parents’ reactions to stressful, or potentially stressful, situations. That’s also a benefit of having 24/7 staff on hand. They are there to manage the residents senior care to avoid a major episode. Although those times of frustration may not be often, even one episode could get quickly out of hand.

3. Comfort in Familiar Surroundings

Once again, it is important to understand just what being in familiar surroundings means to the elderly. Somehow it brings to mind that famous line from the Wizard of Oz so long ago: “There’s no place like home.” Often, it’s not a matter of being afraid or apprehensive about being somewhere totally new but more about that feeling you get when you know you are somewhere you are loved and appreciated. You’re free to kick off your shoes, put your feet up on that recliner that you wouldn’t part with for love or money and just being as you have been every day for the past 40, 50 or even 60 years. It’s probable that the now comfortable recliner has been replaced several times over, but at least it’s the recliner they’ve brought from home.

4. The Past Isn’t Being Erased

There is nothing more heartbreaking than to watch a senior go through all the stages of grieving. This is often the case when they are speedily thrust into a senior residence with little more than a few days or weeks’ notice. They often feel unneeded or unwanted after living an entire lifetime with and for their families. Somehow, they get the idea that they are being put out to pasture like the cows back home that have gotten too old to breed and thus too old to produce milk. This is common and not something the adult children ever have in mind. In many cases it would be physically impossible to move your aging parents in with you, or for you to move in with them. The only viable alternative is to find a residence that will resemble the home they’ve lived in for so long while bringing over some of the things they’ve grown to love. It may also help if you visit them regularly.

5. Maintaining Established Routines

Being able to maintain established routines may actually be the most beneficial of all. As we age, those little tasks we always did in the course of a day become more and more difficult to remember or keep up with. It may not always be a sign of impending dementia. Just the fact alone that they are able to remember that the paper comes at 6AM and the coffee pot is always set for 5:45AM, is a good sign. In the eyes of a senior, there is little as frightening as believing that one day they will remember nothing of their past. They fear not knowing who their beloved children are. They worry that they will go out for their evening walk and end up somewhere miles from home without a clue as to why or how they got there. These are all terrifying prospects for them and this is why living in a monitored independent living community is so vitally important.

Perhaps it’s best to say that no matter what your parents expect or fear, it will always be rooted in concerns over losing the past. This is why it is so important to make their new home as close to the old one as possible. If they can look up each day and see familiar surroundings, recognizing them as familiar, then they should not start the day with terror. Maybe this will encourage them to get out and about in the community they are now part of. Maybe they will feel safe and comfortable enough to make friends and have a quality of life they would otherwise not have. You will have the reassurance that there are nurses and a highly-qualified healthcare support system to ensure that your aging parents are safe, comfortable and most of all happy in this new chapter in their lives.