Seniors makeup roughly 20% of Oklahoma’s population, which is why there are so many assisted living communities in the state.
When one of your loved ones is getting older and needs more help with daily living, it might be best to put them in an assisted living community. You may not have the time to give them the attention they need, but a facility can accommodate individual needs while facilitating personal independence.
Not all senior communities are created equally and choosing the right assisted living facility to house your loved one can be overwhelming and emotional. In today’s post, we’ll tell you what you should be looking for in one of these communities.
Finding a great community that makes your loved one feel at home makes the transition to senior living so much easier. Keep reading and let us help you put your mind at ease during these changing times.
Figure Out What Your Loved One Needs
Prior to starting your search for the perfect assisted living community, you need to ascertain what your loved one’s individual needs are. Are they showing signs of aging and require minimal assistance or is their aging advanced to the point of needing constant help?
Going into the process knowing exactly what their daily needs are makes it a lot easier to determine whether or not a given facility is capable of meeting those needs. If you choose blindly, you could risk putting your loved one into an ill-equipped facility that can’t help them.
Determine an Ideal Location
The transition into assisted living is challenging for every family. It’s most challenging for your loved one, who is essentially having their life uprooted. Choosing the right facility in the right place will ease the transition, so take time to determine an ideal location for everyone involved.
Try to put yourself in your loved one’s shoes. Perhaps they’ll want a community close to certain amenities or somewhere that’s near some natural beauty, like a forest or a lake.
It’ll be important to choose a place that’s near family members. One of the best ways to make the transition to senior living is to have friends and family visit regularly. If you live hours away from the facility, you’ll be less likely to make regular visits.
Check Online Reviews
When you decide what you need and where to look, you can begin your search in earnest. The first thing to do here is to check online reviews to see what family members of current and former residents are saying about different facilities.
You can use reviews to narrow your search down to a few of the best options. It’s important to look through them to look for any concerning comments about staff problems or issues with the facility. Choose a few of the facilities with sterling reputations to investigate further.
Look at the Community’s Health Care Services
One of the things you need to figure out is whether the community’s services match your loved one’s needs. Good assisted living communities will be staffed with plenty of experienced and compassionate individuals. These people should have a wide range of expertise to accommodate different residents.
Few senior communities have in-house medical care. That said, they bring in physicians and nurses for regular check-ups. Some communities offer memory care, which involves programming geared toward residents suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
If you don’t look into this, you risk putting your loved one in a facility that isn’t equipped to deal with their medical needs. Take the time to research this and contact communities to ask any questions you have about their health services.
Consider the Programming
Healthcare services look after your loved one’s immediate medical needs. When it comes to providing an enjoyable lifestyle, assisted living communities must offer great daily activities.
The best communities will offer a wide range of programs and scheduled events for residents. These programs might be educational, social, recreational, or exercise-based. The idea behind them is to promote social activity, which is essential as people get older.
A good social life helps to stave off feelings of isolation and depression. Over 2 million American seniors suffer from depression, which can lead to a wide range of physical problems, such as obesity and heart disease.
Look Into Dining Options
Another major priority in choosing assisted living is dining. Along with physical and social activity, nutrition gets more and more important as we age. If you don’t eat a balanced, healthy diet, you run the risk of developing a litany of health problems that worsen with age.
Assisted living communities should always come with in-house dining for residents. Look for rotating menus of dishes that serve a diverse set of dietary restrictions.
Eating well will lower your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and conditions resulting from decreased muscle mass and bone density. Seniors need to eat a diet packed with plenty of fruits and vegetables, protein, fiber, calcium, and countless other nutrients.
Amenities and Grounds
You’d be remiss not to look into the amenities in different communities. All senior living facilities have unique amenities and surroundings. Some are equipped with exercise rooms, while others have games rooms or salons.
If your loved one has specific interests, look for a community with those types of amenities.
Take a Tour and Meet the Staff
The last step in choosing a community for your loved one is to take a tour. A tour of the grounds and facility will let you get a glimpse into what senior living will be like. You’ll get to look at the apartments, talk to staff, and observe how other residents live.
Choosing the Right Assisted Living Facility
Choosing the right assisted living facility doesn’t have to be difficult, but it should take time. When you find the perfect community, your loved one’s transition into assisted living can be comfortable and happy.
If you’re in Midwest City, OK, the top assisted living community is Morada Midwest City. Our amazing and compassionate staff works hard to provide the highest standard of care for our residents. Contact us today to schedule a tour and discuss your loved one’s needs.
