When Is It Time for Assisted Living for Mom?
When Is It Time for Assisted Living for Mom?
As an adult child of a mother in her Golden Years, you may be wondering whether or when it is time to consider an assisted living residence option for your mom. There is not a one size fits all answer to this question. Rather, determining whether an assisted living option is a good fit for your mother warrants a close consideration of the facts and circumstances surrounding your mom’s life at this time.
With this in mind, there are a number of factors to bear in mind when considering whether it is time for assisted living for your mom. These different considerations run the spectrum from less significant to more considering. These include:
- Your mom seems isolated or lonely
- Your mother appears to need some assistance in dealing with daily living matters
- Your mom seems less happy than usual
- Changes in your mother’s behavior
- Your mother appears to have some mobility issues
- Your mom seems to have erratic eating habits
- Concerns about your mom’s medicine management issues
Again, it is important to stress all situations involving a senior woman and the prospect of assisted living are unique. These are only a selection of the more commonplace considerations to bear in mind when analyzing the prospect of mom moving into an assisted living residence.
Isolation and Loneliness
If you feel that your mother is experiencing isolation and loneliness, the time may have arrived that assisted living should be considered. You do not need to feel guilty about your mother seeming isolated or lonely. The reality is that an adult child rarely can fully provide all the socialization a mother needs. She needs others in her life for more complete social interaction. This can be made available to her through an assisted living option.
Daily Living
If your mom appears to be having issues tending to all issues associated with daily living, that certainly can be indicative that the time has arrived to consider a different residential option like assisted living. People do tend to be less adept at managing all aspects of daily living as they grow older. That is a common occurrence, a typical progression as people age. Assisted living can truly be an ideal alternative in such a situation.
Unhappy
An indication that assisted living might be a good choice for your mom is if she seems unhappy. This does not have to be profound sadness. Rather, it can take the form of recurring unhappiness that appears to have some connection to her current living situation. There are many positive elements associated with an assisted living option that has the potential to address underlying causes of unhappiness that may currently impact your mom’s life at this time.
Behavioral Changes
If you have noticed some behavioral changes with your mom, this can be indicative of the time having arrived to consider your mother moving to a suitable assisted living residence. The nature and extent of behavior changes governs the type of assisted living facility that can be considered. In addition, some behavior changes can be altered with a change of a living environment.
Mobility Issues
Mobility issues can also present reasons why the time has arrived to consider the possibility of your mom moving to an assisted living center. For example, assisted living residences have been found to be particularly suitable when your mom uses a wheelchair to get around. There are assisted living facilities that are particularly welcoming to women who use a wheelchair for mobility purposes.
Eating Habits
Unfortunately, older women and men alike sometimes become a bit scattered when it comes to their eating habits. Simply, there are instances in which senior women do not eat properly. This can occur for a wide range of different reasons. No matter the motivating reason why an older woman has spotty nutritional habits, issues surrounding eating habits can also represent a reason why a consideration of a move to an assisted living facility makes sense.
Medicine Management
Older people frequently have issues with medicine management. They forget to take their medications. They take improper dosages of their medications. The bottom line is that improper medicine management can have significantly negative effects on the health and wellbeing of an older woman. If medicine management appears to have become something of an issue, moving a senior woman to an assisted living residence can be a wise decision.
In many instances, more than one of the indicators discussed in this article will exist when it seems like the time has arrived to consider an assisted living facility for mom. Moreover, the list of indicators set forth in this article is not exhaustive. There can be many other indicators that the time has arrived to seriously consider the possibility of a woman in her Golden Years moving to a suitable assisted living residence.