In addition to senior friendly accommodation, retirement communities provide much needed social contact and offer a secure place to live, with cleaning services and on-site recreation.
With so many wonderful retirement communities out there, choosing the perfect spot for your new home can be quite difficult, so be sure to make use of the following tips to help you decide.
Know the Difference between Assisted Living and Independent Living Communities
Independent living communities are designed for active seniors who can take care of themselves. Residents live in separate houses or apartments and benefit from communal spaces, recreational facilities, on-site security and housekeeping, and meal preparation services.
Assisted living communities cater for seniors who need more help managing their day-to-day lives. Apartments make up the bulk of assisted living accommodation and these may not come with their own kitchens. Assistance is provided to help residents wash and dress, do laundry, eat meals, and take medications.
Assisted living and independent living communities may offer nursing support, but they aren’t nursing homes.
Choose a Community That Can Adapt to Your Changing Needs
Moving to an independent community isn’t as simple as making a move to a new home in your neighborhood. While appealing accommodation will obviously be a big factor in your choice of community, you also need to make sure that your community can cater to your needs if the day arrives when you can no longer take care of yourself.
If you choose to live in a community that doesn’t offer skilled nursing care to residents you may well have to pack up and move again at a time in your life when moving to a new home is the last thing that you want to do.
Communities like the Riddle Village continuing care retirement community in Pennsylvania provide independent living facilities for active seniors, but they also supply nursing care should you need it.
Choose a Community That Fits Your Values
In recent years, some retirement communities have chosen to cater to residents with certain lifestyles. You can find communities that put a strong emphasis on sustainable development and green living, communities that cater to the LGBT community, as well as those that meet the needs of religious groups.
If you’ve got values that you hold dear, take a look to see if there's a retirement community that ticks those boxes.
Make Sure There Are No Hidden Costs
Avoid unwelcome surprises by double checking the services included in your monthly fee. Some communities charge a higher fee but include all of the services you’ll need, while others charge a lower fee with add on charges for the services that you use.
Add on fees can cover services like housekeeping, meal preparation, transport, and use of recreational facilities.
Conducting thorough research before you choose a community will ensure that life in your new home goes smoothly and leaves you free to enjoy all that the community has to offer.
So much to consider when the time comes. My grandparents lived in the house until they were over 90! So as you can imagine it got more difficult for them in the later years. They finally gave in and went into an assisted living apartment. My grandfather regretted not doing so sooner. He loved having others to play bingo and pool with.
ReplyDeleteIt's still early but my husband and I have been talking seriously about planning for our retirement and we would seriously consider moving to a community when the time comes. It's good that there are more options these days.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very informative post. I didn't know the difference between assisted living and independent living.
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