Is Assisted Living the Best Option (for Your Loved One)?
Are you considering moving an aging loved one into a care facility? Consider these options before jumping into a decision.
Four Tips If You're Considering Assisted Living
- Pray about every move, take as much time as you can and pour out your fears, hurts and frustrations to the Lord (Phil. 4:6-7). Your own strength cannot sustain your when emotionally charged issues overtake you, But God's can.
- Ask God to make correct moves obvious and to close doors tightly to any wrong moves.
- Ask God to bring a trustworthy friend to help you and to listen to you (Heb. 10:24-25).
- Seek godly counsel from people and agencies with experience who can help you in concrete ways. Talk with people in your church who have gone through this with their parents or aging loved ones. Maybe you can start a support group at church for other caregivers.
To determine if your elder is a good match for assisted living, consider your loved one’s personality and health needs. If your aging loved one is losing some function but is a sociable person, it may be the ideal choice. If your elder is not fond of congregate living, a better option may be to arrange for help through adult day-care programs and/or home care. Following a hospital stay, extended care/sub-care hospital rooms are offered by some hospitals on a temporary basis for those who cannot go home but do not want to move into an assisted-living or continuing-care facility.
Consider your elder's financial stability, too. Will your elder's income and assets be enough to cover assisted-living expenses for the next few years, including possible increases in monthly charges and additional fees if more services are needed?
A continuing problem with assisted-living facilities is what happens to the elder when she needs care beyond the levels provided by assisted living. She may end up transferring to a nursing home if the assisted-living facility is not licensed or equipped to handle her increasing medical needs. After spending much of her savings on the assisted-living facility, the elder may be asked to leave with no guarantee of where to go. Many seniors have been left "high and dry" by the assisted-living industry when they needed more care. That is why the continuum of care offered by continuing care retirement communities appeals to many.
If assisted living seems to be the most appropriate and welcomed kind of care for your aging loved one, the best time to talk about it is before it is needed. Try to anticipate the day when in-home care combined with community services and family help is no longer viable.
From Caring for Aging Loved Ones, Focus on the Family Publishing