How to plan ahead for a move to an assisted living facility

We hope you all enjoyed the holidays. While one of us was recuperating from foot surgery, in a wheelchair and unable to bear weight for a month, the other spent Thanksgiving Day at the hospital while his 89-year-old mother underwent emergency hip surgery after a fall at home.

Having many hours in the waiting room snacking on cafeteria food instead of turkey and mashed potatoes, one has time to reflect as well as plan for the next steps for your loved one as she enters many weeks of rehabilitation to walk again.

We’ve counseled thousands of clients and their families over the past few decades about the importance of planning ahead for the significant costs of long-term care.

In Western Pennsylvania, an Assisted Living Facility can cost $6,000 a month. In addition, if the resident requires a higher level of care the cost can increase by several thousand dollars a month.

While preparing for the financial aspect of this transition is important, planning for the human aspect carries with it many other types of considerations. So here are some pointers based on both client and personal experience.

Transitioning for a senior who has just had a traumatic medical event coupled with moving out of her home after living there for over 50 years brings an array of emotional issues. Care should be given to the psychological weight borne during this time, as well as making this new home as comfortable as possible. Reassurances that everything will be OK can help.

Getting personal items from home ready to go in advance for the new living environment will also help smooth the transition. A quick checklist can include adequate clothing, shoes, toiletries, pictures, phone, television, kitchen items, towels, tables, lamps and chairs. (Think of when you moved your child into their first apartment.)

Then there are specialty equipment items that may be needed, such as a lift chair, wheelchair or walker.

In addition, many seniors don’t use cellphones, so you need to have phone and cable service activated.

Even after a two-week stint at a rehab facility, once the resident moves into her apartment there will be ongoing daily therapy that needs to be monitored. In between those therapies are periodic doctors’ visits. (Remember that while many communities have relationships with medical systems and doctors, at the inception of this transition the resident is still using her existing primary care physician and transitioning to a new doctor, even without the trauma of a fall, is difficult).

We all love our animals. Whether it’s a dog, cat, parakeet or hamster, that pet provides so much emotional support that separating it from its owner will prevent the transition for the patient from ever being complete.

In fact, the choice of community often boils down to whether pets are accepted. If you’re planning on bringing Fido to your new apartment, plan ahead. First, review your admission agreement to confirm that the community actually accepts pets.

Find out any additional costs to house the pet and the conditions for it to remain with you. Then, prepare the pet for transportation and a veterinarian checkup before getting it to its owner. This can be a daunting task if the pet is not familiar with other family members or has not had regular veterinary care.

Once the move is complete, someone needs to make sure the pet can have adequate food and the ability to “relieve” itself while maintaining a sanitary environment for the pet, its owner and other residents of the community.

This is a big move for anyone — and their family members — let alone someone recovering from a fall and surgery who may be frail or have compromised cognitive abilities. Some families are fortunate that several family members are available to coordinate all that must bedone. Other families may find the burden falls upon an individual familymember to do everything.

There are resources out there to assist with this transition. If you’re the one in charge, don’t burn yourself out. Get help!