Life in a nursing home can be a difficult transition for an elderly loved one. Their routine changes, their freedom is oftentimes reduced, and they might have a difficult time adjusting to these changes. There are things that you and your family can do to make this transition easier for everyone. This section of our website is dedicated to helping your family with this transition.
Transition Smoothly
First, check out our page about moving your loved one into a nursing home. The first few days and weeks in a home can be the hardest. Remember to visit or call your loved one frequently, and ask your loved one if the home is a good fit. You want your loved one to be happy in the long term. It can also be helpful if your loved one can take mementos and things with sentimental value with them to the home. Set up their room or apartment to reflect their home.
If you have a spouse who needs to go to a nursing home, make sure to communicate with them, visit often, and remain positive about this change. Also make sure that you check in with yourself to make sure that you are adjusting to this new lifestyle.
If your parent goes to a nursing home and you have kids, they might be confused or scared that their grandparent can’t live at home anymore. Explain the situation to your kids, communicate and answer their questions, and assure them that they can visit their grandparent or communicate through a phone call or video chat.
As you can see, visitation is a key element of helping normalize this change for your family. Make sure that the nursing home you choose has ample visitation hours, and that you can even take your loved one out of the nursing home if they are well enough to leave. Attending a family party at home or a dinner out can really help your whole family deal with this change.
As a loved one transitions to a nursing home, you might also worry about the financial burden that this could place on your family. Check out our page about how you can afford a nursing home which has some good financial options that your family can explore. When it comes to finances, you also need to follow rules if you want your loved one to be able to leave the home for fun events, such as the ones mentioned above. Sometimes, Medicare coverage of a nursing home is revoked if the resident leaves the facility. Make sure that you understand the rules before allowing a loved one to leave the home so that you don’t run into any financial issues.
Having a loved one become a nursing home resident will be a big change for your whole family. Make sure that you stay aware of some common mental issues that could arise for your family as you deal with this transition. For additional resources, contact our office. We are happy to help your family in any way that we can during this transition.
