3 Tips to Help You Plan for Arizona Long-Term Care
Long-term care is defined as care provided to an older person to help them live as independently and safely as possible. This includes health care and personal care and usually starts out as unpaid labor through friends and family members. It can be as simple as assisting with cooking meals and completing housework, or it can be a little heavier, such as helping with grooming, eating, and moving around. But when long-term care becomes too difficult or too extensive for those closest to you, it may be time to look into moving into an assisted living community. BridgeWater Assisted Living can help with that.
Moving to an assisted living community can feel like a daunting task, though. Here are three tips to help you plan for long-term care in Arizona and to hopefully make it feel less worrisome.
1. Visit the Community Several Times Before the Move
Stopping for a visit is a great way to get a feel for the community and to make a few friends before the moving trucks even get involved. Attend a few events, check in with the activity schedule, maybe see if you can tag along on a shopping excursion or day trip. This way, you can also ask other residents how they settled in and got comfortable and if there’s a particular reason they chose that location as opposed to another. Studies have shown that older adults who have good, strong connections to friends, family, and neighbors have a higher quality of life and enjoy their twilight years more.
2. Downsize First
Part of the reason you’re moving into long-term care in Arizona is probably because you have too much house. Moving to a smaller apartment might be more difficult if you have a lot of big furniture. It’s a good idea to take stock of the furniture and items you own to see which ones can be given to friends or family or donated to a cause you champion (such as a thrift store, antique store, or organization such as Habitat for Humanity ReStore).
The best advice for downsizing is to avoid making an “unsure” or a “miscellaneous” pile—it only puts off having to make hard decisions later and may cause you more stress than if you handle it right off.
3. Settle In
Since you won’t have to think so much about housework, cooking, or remembering your medications, you’ll free up some headspace to have some fun. It’s important to take time for yourself now that you can. Even if you’re an Arizona native, you’ll be able to explore your new surroundings and enjoy your new rhythm of life.
Our BridgeWater communities are located in and around Phoenix and Tucson—both cities where you can find something fabulous on every street corner. Enjoy museums such as the Phoenix Art Museum, the Arizona Science Center, or the Hall of Flame Fire Museum. Take in a show at any of the movie theaters or a live show at the Herberger Theater Center. This is your time to enjoy your life, so enjoy it, and let your caregivers and personnel at BridgeWater Assisted Living handle the details.