{"id":13748,"date":"2018-07-23T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=13748"},"modified":"2018-07-20T15:06:16","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T20:06:16","slug":"assisted-living-placement-for-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2018\/07\/assisted-living-placement-for-couples\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips for Assisted Living Placement for Couples"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 Tips for Assisted Living Placement for Couples<\/h1>\n

What if one of your parents needs assisted living care and the other doesn\u2019t want to leave their spouse\u2019s side?\"5 <\/em><\/p>\n

Read our tips on\u00a0how to find assisted living communities for couples.<\/p>\n

Assisted Living Placement for Couples<\/h2>\n

There are a lot of how-to guides out there to help you through the assisted living care process, though most of them focus on what it\u2019s like to place one senior loved one into assisted living. What if you are faced with finding a community for\u00a0both of your senior parents?<\/p>\n

As life spans increase, this is becoming a familiar scenario to children caring for their senior parents. The\u00a0U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>\u00a0states that the percentage of those aged 60 and over who reported being married has increased over the past several decades, while the number reporting widowhood has decreased.<\/p>\n

Many of these couples find it necessary to look for assisted living care as they age \u2014 and they want to do so without being separated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This can present a number of challenges, especially if one partner has drastically different health care requirements than the other. Will you be able to ensure that both of your parents\u2019 emotional, mental and physical care and needs are met?<\/p>\n

Guidelines for\u00a0Assisted Living Placement<\/h2>\n

There are a few\u00a0steps that you can take to make the assisted living placement process run well for you and your senior loved ones:<\/p>\n

1. Consider\u00a0both individual and shared needs.<\/h3>\n

Different couples have different relationship needs \u2014 and, likewise, individuals\u00a0within\u00a0a couple may have different health and social needs. If one member of a couple is healthier, more mobile, and\/or more sociable, it will help with their day-to-day well-being if the assisted living community offers leisure activities that are appealing and fulfilling for both parties. If the healthier partner wants to take a fitness class, will they feel comfortable leaving their spouse in the care of staff? Can both parties get their social needs met? Be sure to research the\u00a0amenities and care provided by an assisted living residence<\/a>\u00a0ahead of time,\u00a0to ensure that it will offer a pleasant quality of life for both members of the couple.<\/p>\n

2. Have a financial plan in place.<\/h3>\n

Especially for those without a family that is able to contribute to long-term care, the prospect of putting both members of a couple into assisted living can be financially daunting. Some communities are very expensive, especially for those with differing health status or those requiring memory care, and in many cases assisted living facilities do not work with Medicaid. Properly\u00a0planning for long-term care<\/a>\u00a0can be the key to stretching the resources you do have and enabling your aging parents to continue residing together.<\/p>\n

3. Make\u00a0arrangements for future health changes.<\/h3>\n

Monitoring not one, but two parents in assisted living can be an added challenge when you throw in the very real likelihood that one or both of them may have unforeseen health changes in the future. In a study,\u00a0Candace Kemp, Ph.D.<\/a>, an Associate Professor in Gerontology and Sociology at Georgia State University, found that\u00a0adult children often take on a greater magnitude of responsibility<\/a>\u00a0when overseeing two parents in assisted living care, a particularly challenging task when the two parents had different needs at different times. One way to minimize stress in this situation is to familiarize yourself with the community\u2019s policies regarding resident retention in the face of health changes. If you\u2019ll need to pay for additional outside services, or move your parents to a different facility such as a nursing home, be well aware of that possibility in advance.<\/p>\n

4. Prepare\u00a0for the transition.<\/h3>\n

While more and more couples are entering retirement age together, couples are still the minority in assisted living and most communities are designed with a single occupant in mind rather than two. When there are two-person apartments available, they are often more costly. Beyond the personal space issue are the realities of living in a community environment. \u201cAlthough each couple had a private room of varying size,\u201d says Kemp\u2019s study, \u201cthe comings and goings of care staff, the regulation of daily life and the public nature of assisted living meant, according to one husband, that \u2018no one has privacy.’\u201d Being aware of the differences between your parents\u2019 current environment and an assisted living residence can help everyone prepare better for the transition.<\/p>\n

5. Research\u00a0assisted living communities ahead of time.<\/h3>\n

Health transitions are one of the most common reasons prompting individuals or\u00a0couples to begin the search for assisted living<\/a>, according to Kemp. The key to not getting caught off guard by a sudden health change is to start the planning process ahead of time. Being proactive in this way is associated with greater satisfaction in the long run, because it allows families and seniors to take the time to find a community that\u2019s a good fit and it gives everyone more control over the decision-making process. If you\u2019re not prepared and there\u2019s a crisis situation, it limits the\u00a0residence options<\/a>\u00a0available to you.<\/p>\n

One last bonus tip: arranging senior care for a couple can be hard, requiring families to consider individual and shared needs of both spouses \u2014 but don\u2019t forget to consider the\u00a0needs of the caregiver<\/a>\u00a0and don\u2019t be afraid to ask for help from a Senior Living Advisor or other expert when it comes to finding the best fit for your loved ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5 Tips for Assisted Living Placement for Couples What if one of your parents needs assisted living care and the other doesn\u2019t want to leave their spouse\u2019s side? Read our tips on\u00a0how to find assisted living communities for couples. Assisted Living Placement for Couples There are a lot of how-to guides out there to help you through the assisted living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7026,"featured_media":13756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,200],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-assisted-living","8":"category-families-caregivers"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Tips for Assisted Living Placement for Couples<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What if one of your parents needs assisted living care and the other doesn\u2019t want to leave their spouse\u2019s side? 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