Tackling something new is always a little bit difficult. And when your senior is moving into a new community for people just like her, she might be worried about what that experience will truly be like. By following some of these tips, your senior may just find the process to be a lot easier than she expects.
Start out Knowing You Need to Be Patient
Any time your elderly family member is dealing with big changes, there’s going to be a period of adjustment. It helps a lot if you can both start out knowing from the outset that you’re all going to need to be a little more patient. Help your senior to set small and realistic mini goals that allow her to make progress toward settling in more fully. Big changes take time.
Help Your Senior to Explore Activities
The right retirement community for your elderly family member ideally offers a range of different activities and events from which she can choose. Take a look at that schedule with your elderly family member and encourage her to plot out when she might want to try various activities. Branching out and trying new things can really help her to meet new people and to start to adjust.
Look for Ways to Support a New Routine
Part of the reason that it can feel so complicated to make these changes is that your senior has uprooted her old routines and needs to establish new ones. Again, that takes time to do fully. Help her to find ways to create a new routine that works for her and that supports her needs. If her first or even her second attempt at setting a new routine doesn’t feel right, encourage her to try again.
Encourage Her to Reach Out
Getting to know other people in her retirement community is really important. But it’s hard to meet new people and make new friends as an adult. Your elderly family member may need to remind herself to reach out a little bit and to make that first effort. It can really pay off for her and she will start to get to know the people around her a lot more quickly.
Moving to a senior supportive living community might feel a little scary to your senior at first, but everyone there has been in the same situation. Soon enough and with your support, your senior will have created her new routine.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering a move to a Senior Supportive Living in Swansea, IL or surrounding areas please contact the caring staff at Knollwood Retirement Community today. 618-394-0569
Offering seniors age 65 and older a wealth of amenities to retain as much independence as they are able, with support, in a home-like environment in our supportive living community.
