Moving to Assisted Living vs. Staying at Home

As you or your parent ages, you may consider if assisted living makes more sense than staying at home. While it’s a common question, every person has his or her own unique needs. So, it’s important to consider all the factors.

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First of all, make sure you have a good understanding of what an assisted living community provides. Then, review how moving to assisted living versus staying at your current home would affect each aspect of life. Often, this makes the choice clearer. To help guide your decision, consider these five factors:

Safety Concerns

Safety remains one of the most important points to weigh when considering living arrangements. If you or your loved one lives at home alone, is anyone nearby to help in an emergency? Is your home set up in a way that makes it easy to move around?

A report from the CDC showed 1 in 4 people over 65 years of age fall each year. Falls can cause head injuries or broken bones – like a broken wrist or hip fracture. As a result, they can have serious effects on health and well-being. An assisted living community may provide a safer living environment than a traditional home. In addition, you or your loved one has others close to help when needed.

Daily Living

 As you or your loved one gets older, daily tasks may take more effort. By staying at home, you keep the responsibility for home maintenance, food prep, and other chores. And, sometimes these daily tasks begin to take time away from doing what you enjoy.

Assisted living communities take care of maintenance, so you don’t have to worry about home upkeep. Many also offer help with nutrition or dining services to take away the stress of meal prep. Once you evaluate the time and resources it takes to maintain your day-to-day life, letting go of these tasks may make sense.

 Socialization

A study by the University of California San Francisco found that more than 40 percent of seniors felt lonely. Even more, the study showed feeling lonely could negatively impact your health. That’s why the social aspects of your life deserve consideration. Think about how much social contact you’ll get staying at home versus moving to assisted living.

For those at home, your location or inability to drive may keep you or your loved one isolated. Assisted living communities offer numerous social activities for a variety of interests. Also, living close to other seniors provides plenty of chances to develop new friendships. No matter what you decide, it’s important to feel like you or your loved one has a network of social support in place.

 Independence

When you live on your own, you may often rely on loved ones for help. Many senior adults find assisted living gives them back a sense of independence. Communities bring together everything you need in one place – making it easy to do and go as you please.

For adult children of aging parents, assisted living may also provide peace of mind. You can know your parents have what they need. When you can’t be there, assisted living provides built-in support to help them keep active and independent.

Consider Cost

With assisted living, all expenses are taken care of through consistent payments. For staying home, you’ll need to add up your various costs to get an average total.

When you compare the cost of staying at home, take into account all major expenses. This includes taking care of monthly bills like groceries, electricity, or water. But, other expenses add up too. Consider ongoing home repairs, housekeeping costs, or extra costs to get from home to other activities. Given that, you may not find much difference in the overall cost of an assisted living community and the overall cost of staying in a house.

Assisted Living at Monticello West

Call (214) 528-0660 and learn more about your assisted living options at Monticello West.