Caring for your young family takes a lot of work as it is, but what happens when taking care of your aging elders makes your life complicated? 
Moving an elderly loved one from independent to assisted living is probably on your mind, whether your parent is giving you pushback or not.
However, it can bring new and unexpected joys they may not expect once they arrive. According to this Assisted Living Community in Elmore, MN, many elderly residents feel relieved from everyday responsibilities that have become too much of a burden, like cooking and cleaning.
But how do you know when it is time to make this change?
Here are five ways to tell that your parent is ready for an environmental change.
1. Deterioration of Self-Care
It may be time to move to a care facility if a loved one struggles to cook, clean, pay bills, and get dressed. You may notice their clothes and appearance, in general, are more unkempt. This is a sure sign that they are battling to do daily ablutions and self-care routines.
This means it would be better to have qualified personnel on hand to assist with these tasks.
2. The Decline of Home Maintenance
Your elderly loved one may not have the energy and physical strength to look after a full-sized house anymore. If things appear grubby and messy, they may be battling to keep the place going.
This can cause a lot of stress for the elderly resident as well as their family.
3. Injuries are Becoming Common
If your elderly loved one keeps getting minor injuries from trying to do things around the house or has had a significant fall, this is a sure sign they need a change. Harm can take a long time to repair as people get older. If this is happening from time to time, your loved one’s quality of life is impacted.
By moving to an easier facility for an older person to navigate, and where there is help if needed, you will be assisting your loved one to have a safer, better quality of life.
4. Difficulty Driving
Your loved one may be struggling to drive or even be getting lost when doing simple chores around the village. This is a serious, possibly fatal, matter, and a sure sign that assisted living would benefit.
Being somewhere where the grocery shopping and driving to social events are taken care of will take a lot of stress out of your and your loved one’s life.
RELATED: Tips to Reduce Distracted Driving
5. Caregivers are Under Pressure
This is a big one. If the family member responsible for checking up on and looking after an independently living elder is not reliable, it is time to consider a living facility.
Remember, while it is a lovely and kind thing to do to care for your elderly loved ones, you also have a responsibility to your young family, as well as to yourself. If caring for an elder is keeping you from looking after your children to your standards, or keeping you from doing things you enjoy, then you should chat to them about going into assisted living.
At first, this may make you feel guilty or selfish, but if you cannot live your own life and the situation is not improving, it is best to look for a solution.
You may find the pressure you are under makes spending time with your elderly loved ones all about getting chores done rather than quality time together.
Bottom Line
At an assisted living facility, much of the responsibilities will be taken care of. This will leave your family more time to spend enjoying the golden years together. You can still be as involved in your elders’ lives as you would like to be.
More Advice for Families
- When to Put an Elderly Parent in a Nursing Home
- How to cope with an elderly relative that has become aggressive
- 7 Reasons to Remove the Stigma from Assisted Living Facilities
- How to Celebrate Christmas With a Senior Parent
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