When Is the Right Time to Look for Assisted Living

With age, comes great responsibility, and sometimes we can’t perfectly comprehend everything – even if it involves those closest to us.

Putting someone you love in a nursing home is a big change, and the decision might not come easy, but sometimes it’s necessary. By doing so, you’ll ensure that your family member is in safe hands at all times, and that’s the most important thing.

Here are some signs it might be time to consider assisted living for your loved one.

Safety

When it comes to older people, they need special care and adequate surroundings to live in to ensure their safety. Depending on their health, and overall state, any type of injury can lead them into bigger problems.

Australians tend to make safety a number one priority when deciding on a nursing home. It’s well known that most nursing facilities in Australia are designed to keep older people out of any danger, and this is not far from the truth when it comes to other countries, as well.

House injuries are pretty common, and if your loved one is still living alone, they are more likely to do stuff around the house when you aren’t around.

Nursing homes are equipped with adequate furniture and space, perfectly suited for their needs, so it’s smart to consider what space your older family member is living at and decide if it’s safe for them to live alone or not!

Activity

Depending on the health of the person in question, older people usually lose the ability to be super mobile. This can vary from semi-mobility, like them being able to go to the bathroom and around the house on their own to permanent bed rest.

This can lead to extreme problems for the elderly person, as they can’t do regular stuff around the house anymore, like cooking and cleaning. Walking sticks can work only so far, and the ability to move freely can worsen quickly.

But when choosing assisted living, the elderly person will have help at all times, and they won’t have to do the cooking and cleaning on their own.

Health issues

When dealing with elderly people with chronic health problems or specific diseases, they need surveillance 24/7, around the clock supervision just to ensure that they are safe.

If you can’t be around them day and night,  you might want to consider putting your family member in a nursing home.

If the health is declining fast, they’ll need as much help and assistance with everyday tasks that you simply can’t give them all the time.

Taking the medication on time is also a super important task, some elderly people totally forget to do, since you can’t be around them all time – assisted living is there to fill in the gaps!

Mental health

Mental and physical health go hand in hand. Especially when it comes to older people. One can certainly be connected to another, and cause a problem that’s out of your hands.

One of the more common elderly problems is dementia, as it can cause both physical and mental problems. People suffering from this need extra care and attention as they struggle to remember things, speaking clearly, and doing regular daily tasks.

Once you notice that the behaviour of your family member isn’t normal or seems a bit suspicious, you need to keep a good eye on them and see if you can handle their change of character.

Regardless if they have an illness or not. Elderly people are at high risk of depression, anxiety, and paranoia that could be hard for you to comprehend.

Isolation

With the general bad mental health that could occur in elderly people, comes isolation. Older people might not even do this intentionally, maybe all their friends are gone or unable to communicate like before – leaving the person completely isolated from people, other than their family.

This can lead to depression, as every person desires communication and connection with other people, the same goes for the elderly! If you notice that your family member is acting differently and feeling a bit lonely, that’s a good sign of needing additional support and help.

Know your limits

At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself if you have the energy and time to give your loved one the full care they need, even if you are willing to do it.

You’ll need to make a decision that’s best for everyone, both you and your family member. Their health and safety should come before anything else, and if you are not capable of doing so – putting them in safe hands at a nursing home is the best thing you can do for them!

This will relieve both your stress and worries and the person in question since they’ll be taken care of properly!