An assisted living facility has so much more than occasional assistance to offer the people who call it home. In fact, there are many ways that assisted living communities can provide a new level of living for seniors when compared to living alone. These are a few of the ways an assisted living center can bring new life to your aging loved one.
1. Provide a New Social Circle and Sense of Community
Humans are social creatures. That doesn't end once people reach certain ages. The need remains to socialize with others even when mobility issues, loss of confidence, and age-related health concerns prevent the average senior from getting out and about. An assisted living center helps by bringing aging adults to the community. What this means is that the staff are there to help with grooming concerns, to encourage resident interactions, and to assist with mobility and other socialization obstacles so residents have the confidence and opportunity to broaden their social circles.
2. Deliver Age and Ability-Appropriate Activities to Promote Healthy Living
From exercise classes designed specifically for aging adults to garden walks and planned outings, the average assisted living community offers plenty of opportunities for residents to build strength and improve mobility with physical activities. The activities are varied to encourage wider participation and designed to appeal to many different interests.
3. Encourage Volunteerism Among Residents
Most assisted living staffs understand the importance of feeling useful, needed, and even necessary in the lives of others. That is why many of them encourage residents to volunteer with many different organizations throughout the year. The physical and emotional health benefits of volunteering are vital for decreasing feelings of isolation and unstable health that often accompany aging populations.
4. Offer Specialized Care and Treatment
Different people need different types of assistance and varying degrees of assistance based on their physical health and limitations as well as the specific conditions they have. For instance, people with early stages of dementia require different types of assistance than those who are experience arthritis-related mobility or grooming concerns. Look for assisted living communities that offer the appropriate types of specialized care to offer your loved one the most favorable outcome possible.
There are many other ways assisted living facilities help aging adults, including the providing of nutritional meals that meet their specific health needs, monitoring medications to ensure they are receiving maximum value from their treatment options, and monitoring resident vital signs to detect potential problems at their first signs. With benefits like these, it is no wonder that living in an assisted living community offers many seniors a "second wind" in their golden years.
