5 Ways to Transition to a Retirement Home Easily

5 Ways to Transition to a Retirement Home Easily

The unfortunate reality is that transitioning to a retirement home is going to be stressful for all involved. Even when hiring removalists and being organised, it’s a significant change in your family’s life, and there’s going to be an adjustment period.

However, you can undoubtedly make sure the transition is as straightforward as it can be by possibly doing some of the following things:

Hiring a Moving Company

If you or your loved one is moving into a retirement home, then they possibly are no longer able to care for themselves and their home as well as they used to. Therefore, it’s easy to assume that moving furniture is likely also outside of their limits.

Aside from hiring muscle power to move large and cumbersome furniture, you also get to benefit from their generously sized transport. Rather than having to hire a trailer or making several trips, a moving company in a truck picks up everything in one trip and takes it to your new home with ease.

Make Several Trips to the Retirement Home Before Moving

Whether it’s you or a family member moving into retirement housing, consider how much easier the transition might be if you’ve made several trips to the facility before moving. The more you familiarise yourself with it before moving day arrives, the less daunting it will be when you finally say goodbye to your old home for good.

Find Out About Activities

After living in a family home for decades, you come to know who lives around you. You build life-long friendships and feel safe in your little community.

Moving to retirement housing can mean all that changes. You don’t know many people – or anyone, and everything is new. Social activities can be the key to newly formed relationships. Find out about the activities being offered at the retirement home so that you can help your family member get involved.

Encouraging socialisation can be essential for ensuring they don’t feel depressed, anxious, or isolated in their new surroundings.

Don’t Forget to Communicate

Often, it’s family members that make decisions around retirement housing for an aging loved one. You might have picked out the perfect facility and living arrangement, arranged the sale of their family home, and hired the removalists, but don’t forget to communicate everything you’ve planned.

A big move such as this one can be overwhelming enough without the person it involves not being informed of what’s happening until it does.

Visit Often

Even if you already visit your loved one in their family home often, make a point of paying even more frequent visits as they get settled into retirement housing. They may need that extra support and encouragement as they adjust, and you can be that one constant in their life.

If your schedule doesn’t allow increased visits, call upon other friends and family to help. The more extensive the support network, the easier it might be for your loved one to adapt to their new living arrangement.

Moving into retirement housing can be a daunting and challenging adjustment, no matter what steps you put in place. Fortunately, those feelings of anxiety and stress don’t last forever. You or your loved one may be able to make a seamless transition by doing any of these things above.