As we grow old as an adult, there will be a phase in our life when we will be forced to think about the health and well-being of our parents. Of course, we want to see them healthy and lead an independent life if their health permits. However, there will be a time when they might need support to do their daily chores. Parents often feel they are a big burden on their kid's life because they are financially disabled, and their children need to support their healthcare needs.
Some people move multiple times in a few years, while others are based in the same location for decades. For many people, a point will come in their life when it would be important for them to move. Moving to a new house is already a complicated process while moving as a senior citizen might create even more complexities for you. Moreover, if you are moving your elderly parents to a memory care facility or an assisted living system because of their deteriorating health, the relocation process would be more challenging for them.
Regardless of where your elderly parents are moving, whether to an assisted living facility, senior apartment, or your house, we have some fantastic tips for you:
Entrust moving responsibilities
Your parents must have treasured some of their most valuable possessions in the house where they have been living for decades. However, if they are paring down to a smaller apartment, they might have to keep a few of their valuables behind.
Here are a few tips and tricks that help you reduce their challenges:
- Begin small - You may suggest your parents downsize their house, beginning with the room that holds the least sentimental value, it could be a guest room or bathroom. This will make their relocation easier as they would feel accomplished.
- Assist them in making decisions - Even the least important things can be a necessity for your parents as they must have been living in the same house for several years. We suggest you help them declutter their belongings and categorize them into the keep and give way or recommend changes if required.
- Gift their possessions to family members or friends - It would be more simply to gift your belongings if you are moving to a better house. If your precious possessions don't fit in with your new house, check if your family members or friends are ready to accept them.
Make use of moving services for elderly
Here we have a checklist of a few important elderly moving services that might assist your elderly parents in moving, downsizing as well as organizing their most valuable possessions:
- Hire a professional - Simply, you can hire an external senior move expert who can easily handle the emotional perspective of moving. Also, if you are available to assist your elderly parents to prepare for the move, it would be extremely worth it to have third-party assistance for taking tough decisions. With this, you can even minimize tension as well as severe arguments in your family.
- Search for a moving company that specializes in senior moves - You should focus on companies that hire professionals with knowledge of social services, health management, gerontology, project management, and psychology.
- Seek assistance after the relocation - Several senior moving services collaborate with companies that assist with the after moving services like staging, cleaning, donation as well as real estate sales.
Choose the transportation option as per your parents’ needs
A few elderly people may not tolerate a prolonged road trip until there are multiple stops and assistance, while there are others who would require complete medical help during the move. Here’s what you might need to consider:
- Count in additional travel time - When moving with senior people, you might need to stop multiple times, this will increase your total travel time. We suggest you ask your elderly parents at regular intervals if they would like to spread their legs or if they need rest stops for a long trip.
- Check mobility - If your parents have a mobility issue, consider booking non-stop flights for them. You must check with the airline company in advance about special services like boarding assistance, special seating arrangements, or escorting assistance to the gate of the airplane. Ensure you update your parents with the various safety measures if they haven't been on a flight journey for a long time.
- Non-emergency medical transit - In case your elderly parents need additional assistance, you should hire a moving company that specializes in senior moves. Such a company will add security for medical transit with services like wheelchairs and oxygen tanks. There are a few other moving companies which will offer transport facilities with registered nurses as well as beds. However, these services would be costly.
Find a new healthcare provider
Are your parents moving to a new place? We advise you to find a new healthcare provider for them. You may either find them through research or your current doctor may refer you to one in the new city. Moreover, you need to take their appointment as soon as your elderly parents reach the new city.
- Collaborate with a geriatric care provider - It would a good idea to work with a geriatric service provider who has sufficient knowledge about the local healthcare providers, in the new location.
- Share prescriptions - Make sure you transfer your parent's prescriptions to the local pharmacy of the city in which they would be moving.
- Connect with the insurance service provider - You must check if the health care provider in the new city is covered in the insurance plan or not.
Create a homely feeling in the new house
It would be a good idea to give a lot of personal touch to the new house, where your parents would be moving.
- Organize carefully - Try to duplicate the display of the photos in the hall of the new house as it was all this while in the home where your parents had been living for decades. You can click photos of the old house to remember the arrangement and replicate the same in your parent's new destination.
- Understanding the new arrangements - Consider measuring the dimensions of the new house well in advance and buy furniture that would fit. Of course, you might not want to make a difficult decision after reaching the new location. Let your parents make plans for their new house if they like design projects.
- Get new opportunities - You can introduce a new Television Set or brightly colored accent walls that your elderly parents might have always desired.
How to get elderly parents to move?
Tell your parents about multiple prospects that they would come across after they move to their house. Here’s what you can do to make a smooth transition:
- Concentrate on the positive vibes of the situation - If you are moving your parents to an assisted living care, let them know how relaxed they would feel living there. Most of their household work like washing clothes would be managed by the staff, while they can enjoy a stress-free life. Moreover, if one or both parents love art, find out if a senior home of your locality in the new city provides hobby classes like painting or is looking for volunteers in a museum.
- Regenerate the routine - You may organize a gathering for your parents to welcome them if they had regularly attended worship services in the past.
- Identify what gives them joy - Look for activity calendars and amenities online that you think your parents might enjoy if you are moving them to an assisted housing facility.
Ultimately, you need to make the new house a safe and comfortable place for your parents to live, until they are moved to an assisted living facility. Always avoid forcing your parents to move out of the house where they have been living for ages, instead talk to them about the numerous opportunities and their safety that might motivate them to move. Hire professional movers who have great expertise in moving seniors and who will help you make the transition easier for your elderly parents.