New Mexico has one of the oldest populations in the country. By 2040, 23% of New Mexicans will be over the age of 65.
For that reason, there are a wide variety of senior living options available. If your loved one could benefit from moving into a senior living community, there’s a lot you need to think about. It’s important to get them the care they need and deserve, but it’s also important to consider your budget.
Great senior living opportunities don’t come for free. That said, there is affordable senior living if you know how to look for it.
In today’s post, we’ll help you find budget-friendly senior living options in Albuquerque. Finding cost-effective retirement homes might sound daunting, but keep reading, and we’ll show you how a few key factors can make all the difference in your search.
Get the Right Type of Care
We’ll discuss some of the more specific factors that affect the cost of senior living momentarily. First, we’ll discuss the thing that affects your senior living costs the most – the type of care your loved one needs.
Senior living falls under a few different overarching categories: independent living, assisted living, and memory care. Getting the proper care for your loved one’s needs is essential, but the price is not the same across the board.
Independent Living
Independent senior living communities are best suited for seniors who have no debilitating health issues. What they get from the community is a low-maintenance lifestyle surrounded by their peers.
Most retirement communities have common areas and daily activities to help facilitate connections between residents. Some have in-house dining and housekeepers to take care of various chores and duties around the community.
Because this is the least intensive form of senior care, it’s often the most affordable. That said, there are high-end retirement communities that may cost more.
Assisted Living
The next step up in senior care is an assisted living community. This is meant for seniors who are dealing with age-related health issues that a basic retirement community isn’t equipped to help with.
Staff members are highly qualified and available to assist residents with everything from taking medication to bathing. There may also be a medical professional on-site to help create care plans and provide medical care as needed.
Assisted Living with Memory Care
46,000 New Mexican seniors are living with Alzheimer’s. If your loved one is among them, they’ll need memory care services. This is a specialized form of senior care offered through some assisted living communities.
Residents of memory care have access to specialized staff members who are equipped to deal with the unique challenges of cognitive decline. At the same time, memory care programming is there to bring normalcy to residents’ lives.
Assisted living and memory care services are much more intensive, which is reflected in the cost. That’s not to say that affordable options aren’t available. Let’s now discuss some of the more minute factors affecting senior living costs.
Factors Affecting Senior Living Costs
When you look at the available senior living options, there’s a lot to consider. Here are a few of the things that might help you make any type of senior living more affordable:
Location
As with other real estate, you pay a premium to enjoy a senior living community in a prime location. When there are local amenities, such as shopping, groceries, and restaurants available, the price will go up.
Location is an important consideration for senior living. It’s a big transition going into senior care, so it’s crucial to find a community that’s centrally located to allow family and friends to visit. When loved ones are around, it eases the transition in the first few days and months.
Room Options
Even cost-effective retirement homes will offer a few different room options to accommodate residents’ needs and budgets. If your loved one doesn’t need much space or they’re willing to sacrifice a few in-room amenities, they can save some money each month.
Our Morada Quintessence community has four different floor plans to choose from. There are two suite options, a 1-bedroom, and a 2-bedroom. All of them have separate bathrooms and a small kitchenette.
Community Amenities and Activities
The amenities a community offers will greatly influence the price of the community. A community with state-of-the-art amenities, like a new fitness center or an in-house theater will charge residents more to enjoy them. Communities with fewer amenities are generally more affordable.
The same is true of the activity calendar. Daily activities should be geared toward promoting socialization between residents and instilling healthy behavior in residents.
Some communities will go above and beyond with their programming, however, inviting performers and professionals to entertain residents. If your loved one doesn’t care about these things, they should choose a no-frills community that simply looks after their health and wellness.
Dining Options
The dining options in a community will affect the price tag as well. Nutrition is an important aspect of senior living, but if your loved one enjoys cooking for themselves, they may not need a full meal plan.
Most great communities offer in-house dining that ensures all residents get the vitamins and nutrients they need to stay healthy. By eating a healthy diet, seniors can avoid health issues that arise from poor nutrition, like heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers.
Consider whether or not your loved one can prioritize nutrition before opting out of a dinner plan. More often than not, it’s well worth the cost to have great food available every day.
Get Affordable Senior Living With Morada Quintessence
Finding affordable senior living is possible, you just need to know what features to prioritize. Use this post as a guide for finding a senior community that matches your loved one’s needs without paying for anything unnecessary.
Of course, it’s important to find senior living that fits your budget. The biggest priority is to find a quality community that treats your loved one like family. For a senior community in Albuquerque, that’s going to be Morada Quintessence.
We’re a welcoming and affordable elder care community with amazing staff and 24-hour nursing services. Contact us today to set up a tour and see the community for yourself.
