What is Assisted Living?

By Brian Burger

What comes to mind when you think of assisted living?

At St. Ann’s Community, we describe assisted living as ‘private apartments, with helping hands.’ Apartments are our residents’ private space, and unless help is scheduled or requested through a predetermined individual care plan, any resident here can enjoy a full expectation of privacy.

Additionally, today’s assisted living communities are vibrant places; they’re full of life and activity! Residents find convenience in onsite restaurants, and a community in gathering places. While some choose to bring their car, most residents enjoy the ease of the provided transportation to their appointments.

There’s a lot more to assisted living than just personal care.

Quality assisted living facilities will work hard to make sure that residents have a wide variety of social events to attend each day. With offerings like exercise classes, a variety of games, support groups and other special interest groups like book clubs or bible study groups, there should be something for everyone.

In many cases, a married couple may find that one of them needs more help than the other. The good news is that in almost every case, both spouses can make the transition to an assisted living apartment together — even if only one person wants to take advantage of the care being offered by the community. Both people can still enjoy the fine-dining style food, the social engagements, and the sense of community.

For many, knowing when the right time is to consider more help is a challenge. There’s no universal life event that indicates that ‘now is the time to think about assisted living’. Much like individual care plans, it always depends on someone’s personal situation.

 

Social isolation is another important thing to consider when deciding on next steps.

Oftentimes seniors will forgo the hobbies that make them happy simply because it has become too difficult to get ready on their own. With the help of care staff, residents are able to thrive and find themselves participating in their favorite activities again.

Once you make the leap and move into your new home, settling into the new routines may take some time. That’s completely normal! As the moving process is wrapping up, it’s also not uncommon to feel a surprising sense of relief. Many newly settled residents describe a renewed feeling of security and comfort that they didn’t realize they had been missing for a long time.

If the topic of assisted living has been on your mind, or if it has been a topic of family conversation, the best thing you can do is to prepare a list of any questions on your mind and call a community to chat. A big part of what we do at St. Ann’s is guiding seniors in the community through this whole process, and it’s a very rewarding part of our days. We always look forward to talking to you!


Brian Burger is a marketing representative for St. Ann’s Community at Cherry Ridge in Webster. Contact him at bburger@mystanns.com or 585-697-6702 or visit www.stannscommunity.com.