INDUSTRY INSIGHT
SENIOR CARE
SPONSORED CONTENT
How to Convince
Your Parents When
it’s Time to Move…
H
olidays are a great time for family and friends to get
together. They can also be a time for adult children
to assess their parents’ health care needs and
determine if they are still safe to live at home alone. We all
want to stay in our own homes. However as our parents
get older, it’s not always in their best interest. So how
do you talk with your parents about the realities, and, in
some cases, the dangers of staying at home once their
health is failing? And, how do you convince them that it’s
time to think about moving to a senior care community?
Discuss how worried you are about them. Enlist the help of other
siblings and family members. Schedule a family meeting and state your
case for this move. Tell them how much you love and care about them,
and how much better everyone in the family would feel if they moved
to a senior care or personal care community. (Sometimes third parties,
such as physicians and spiritual leaders, can make headway when
family meetings fail.)
Watch for a “teachable moment.” Did Mom or Dad recently fall? Have
they been having trouble remembering to take their medications? Are
they having trouble at home because of steps? Use these situations
as teachable moments and times to discuss moving. Discuss how
concerned you are about their safety. Suggest perhaps a few of you
could go look at some senior living or personal care communities.
Explain how you would all feel better if they had people around. Go
with your gut on the timing, but use the “moment” to your advantage.
Leaving a home where one has lived with a life partner, raised
kids, and once had friends among the neighbors is emotionally
difficult. Whittling down a lifetime of possessions is hard. So be
sensitive to your parents’ feelings. With love, guidance and support,
moving your loved ones to a care community could be one of the
best decisions your family has ever made. For more information
on ways to talk with your parents about moving, or to schedule
a complimentary tour, contact Juniper Village at Forest Hills at
412.244.9901.
Plant the seed. Don’t approach your parents as though you’ve already
made the decision for them. Just mention that there are options that
could make life easier and more fun.
Offer to take them to look at some local senior care communities.
If they are willing to look, get in the car and go! You don’t need an
appointment. Potential residents are always welcome to stop by and
look around. Most visitors and their families are pleasantly surprised at
how nice today’s personal care and assisted living communities are. If
they are not willing to go, don’t push it. Drop the subject and wait for
another day.
Check with your friends and your parents’ friends. Find out if any
of them are living in a senior or personal care community nearby. Call
and make plans to visit. Just like the first day of school – your parents
would feel much better and the transition will be much easier if there
are friends already living at the community.
Schedule a visit around an activity that your parents enjoy. Most
communities offer a variety of activities seven days a week. Show off
the social aspects of the community and how much fun it would be to
have things to do every day. Keep it light and don’t force the issue.
Show interest and generate excitement for their new home. Ask
about bringing furniture from home and how much room there is. Take
measuring tape and visualize how your parents’ room(s) would look.
Show excitement, as you would do if you were helping your parents
move to any new home, because that’s what you are doing.
WOODLAND HILLS
❘
WINTER 2019
25