If you want to live your retirement years carefree and full of leisure activities, you’re not alone. However, there are many aspects to consider when choosing the home and lifestyle that fits your hopes and dreams. When thinking about whether to live at home or in a senior living community, you’ll likely find the following tips helpful in making the right choice.
Tips for deciding on a senior living lifestyle
Tip #1 – Plan ahead
Living at home often seems like the obvious choice, and it can be perfect as long as you remain healthy and independent. However, at some point, you will likely find yourself in need of occasional or everyday help especially as managing medications and mobility become difficult. When you realize you need it, getting it may be difficult and costly.
Choosing a senior living community that offers different levels of care, like Carroll Lutheran Village, means you never have to worry about taking care of yourself or your home because there is always a helping hand nearby. Even if you don’t need help now, moving to a senior living community means you can quickly move to a higher level of care if or when the need arises.
Tip #2 – Don’t underestimate the importance of socialization
One aspect of retirement you may not be ready for is the increased risk of isolation. Losing friends or a spouse/partner and having trouble visiting others are isolation risks.
Sadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s article, Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions, a lack of socialization opportunities can have dire effects on your health and well-being including increased risk of dementia, heart disease and stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death.
Senior living communities offer numerous social opportunities within the community for you to participate in whenever you choose. For example, at CLV, we offer daily activities ranging from fitness, arts and crafts, live performances, parties, lifelong learning classes and more. Plus, we offer several resident clubs so you can engage with others over a shared hobby. There is never a dull moment in senior living!
Tip #3 – Prioritize nutrition
Nutrition is an essential ingredient in the healthy living recipe. As the body changes and grows older, nutritional needs change. For example, you will generally need fewer calories from carbohydrates but more protein to help maintain muscle mass. Additionally, your ability to absorb some vitamins and minerals may decrease, including vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium and iron, all of which are essential to good health.
The senior living lifestyle includes a diet based on senior nutrition with chef-prepared meals that are comparable to top-rated restaurants. They also provide meals for special diets (e.g. diabetes). We also have a dietician who helps educate resident on nutrition.
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Tip #4 Get the services you need
Living at home usually means you will be wearing a lot of different hats from housekeeper to gardener to fix-it person. However, keeping up with everything can often take away from precious time spent doing what you want, when you want and tending to household chores (e.g. cleaning the garage, raking leaves, shoveling snow) instead.
Senior living communities offer a range of services including housekeeping, laundry, concierge, on-site hair salon/barbershop, as well as full-time safety and security, and local transportation to get you where you need to go. Of course, all maintenance and repair needs are also included so you can rest easy knowing you are in good hands no matter what goes awry. For more about what to expect from the senior living lifestyle check out the Forbes’ article, Your Guide To Luxury Senior Living.
Getting the most from retirement is so much easier when you choose a senior living community because it is designed to make life carefree and fun, but also healthy and vibrant so you can relax and enjoy life! Now that you have read these four tips, download our Stay or Go Guide for a deeper comparison on aging in place at home or a senior living community.
