Finding Help with Assisted Living Decisions

This post is sponsored by A Place for Mom. 

Over the last 2 years, I’ve shared the journey my family took  as it became apparent that my parents could no longer live in their home of 50 years and we needed to quickly come up with a solution for their care. It’s not an easy task to take on and I felt like I was left alone to figure it out. My sister and niece live in Louisiana so I texted and talked with them along the way as we embarked on this new-to-us senior care journey and made this decision as a family.

I heard about a company that helps with those decisions called A Place for Mom, which helps with these decisions and today I’m sharing more about what they do and how they can help with navigating all the best solutions for each family’s unique situation. They helped me and I’m sure they can help you too if you find yourself in this same place in life.

Is memory care needed or is assisted living the right level of care for your loved ones?

That’s a question we didn’t know the answer to at the time. Melanie, our Senior Living Advisor  at A Place for Mom helped me to first set up appointments to visit 5 senior communities in my area. I visited all 5 of them in one day and my family made our decision quickly at the end of the day, leaving a deposit for our chosen community. Two months later, my parents left their home and moved into the community, getting a red carpet welcome.

A Place for Mom has so  many resources on their website which helps you to learn more about the topic of senior care. If you are like we were, you may feel as if you know practically nothing about assisted living communities and what all they entail. A Place for Mom’s Moving to Assisted Living checklist: Where to Start, What to Keep & Everything In Between is a great place to start if you’re new to this road.

A Place for Mom’s website also offers a guide to helping you find the right place for your loved one. What if you’ve been the primary caregiver, but find that you can no longer handle the burden of caring for an elderly parent? Talking to Family When You Can No Longer Care for an Elderly Parent is a good resource to get the conversation started with family members.

What’s the difference between assisted living, independent living, and memory care? We found all that out along our journey and knew that we would need assisted living and probably memory care. That was a good call, as my dad ended up in memory care the first weekend after my parents moved out of their home. Getting him settled was a huge part of our early days and I’m happy to say, he is completely settled now and has been for a long time. My parents moved almost 2 years ago and it’s been the best decision we could have made.

If you’re facing a similar situation to what my family has faced, you are not alone. There’s help along the way, so don’t feel discouraged if you’re new to this and have no idea what to do. We didn’t either! We learned along the way and my parents were moved into a very nice community that’s only 5 minutes from my house. Talk about peace of mind for me! It’s so nice to have them both so close with my mom in assisted living and dad in the same community’s memory care wing. They both get  their needs taken care of and it sure takes the burden off me. We eat as a family in the common area that has a nice covered porch as well.  Mom and Dad both enjoy those family times!

Melanie, our expert Senior Living Advisor at A Place for Mom even helped me negotiate a better deal with the community we chose and helped to facilitate those discussions up front, which was a big help to me too. I’d definitely encourage anyone to call A Place for Mom if you’re starting this process or you just want to prepare yourself before anything is urgent in moving a loved one. Don’t wait until something bad happens and you’re forced to make a quick decision. Arm yourself with good solid information before you have to use it and you’ll be so happy you did!