Helping seniors adjust to long-term care communities can take time. However, there are two different prongs to this issue: how families and friends can help, and how staff at the community can help. We’re going to go over some of the major points briefly for you here.

Family and Friends

Anticipate and Address

Be prepared for the attendant emotions you may see in someone moving into long-term care, such as sadness, feeling a loss of independence and dignity, grief over the life you don’t have any more and fear of the unknown.

Help to make the transition as easy as possible. Put some photos in the seniors’ rooms to remind them of those who care about them. If possible make contact regularly by phone, video conferencing or in person. The senior’s biggest preoccupation is likely “what will happen to me?” or “who will look after me?”

Make sure the seniors have some of their familiar personal possessions nearby that they like and can see. Talk to them about how they are feeling, and let them know what will be happening when. Sometimes seniors like this actually feel a sense of relief when they go to a long-term care community that is fully staffed. Some things about their lives will be easier for them. There will no longer be a constant shuffle of different caregivers coming and going at home, and they may feel more secure and actually be happier.

Staff

The staff at a long-term care community will be trained to address all of the things mentioned above. The staff is going to make a concerted effort to get the senior into a new and pleasant routine, help them connect with others residents or caregivers, depending on their physical and emotional condition, and get them into regularly scheduled activities to keep them occupied.

Sometimes moving into a long-term care community is a blessing for everyone, and in a short time, the senior is very happy to be with others of their vintage and who share their interests. Think positive and be optimistic. There are emotions that can be transmitted to the senior in question and help their transition to go more smoothly.

The Hamlets at Duncan is a brand-new, assisted-living and complex-care senior community in Duncan, BC, on Vancouver Island. Guided by the tenets of Christian faith, and with a stellar staff and multiple amenities, The Hamlets at Duncan, is the premier senior-living choice for the area.