Some Ideas for Possible Ground Rules if Your Senior Moves In

Moving your elderly family member into your home is a big deal, for both of you. You need to make sure that both you and your senior are giving this a lot of thought before committing to the actual move.

Assess Noise Expectations

Elderly Care Milledgeville GA - Some Ideas for Possible Ground Rules if Your Senior Moves In
Elderly Care Milledgeville GA – Some Ideas for Possible Ground Rules if Your Senior Moves In

You and your elderly family member might have different ideas about what a quiet evening at home is like. Her TV shows might be louder than you expected and some of your activities might be noisy for her. If there are multiple common areas, it helps to figure out how those will be used and whether there need to be some noise guidelines.

Determine Whether a Schedule Is Necessary

Your elderly family member lives her life now according to her own timetable. You and whoever lives in your home now do the same. You might need to talk about what you expect in terms of getting up, bedtimes, and even mealtimes. All of these conversations can help you and your senior avoid misunderstandings later.

Some Vices Might Be a Concern

Your senior might do some things that you don’t, like smoking or having a nightcap. If that doesn’t happen in your home, you might never have had to work out a solution for those activities in any way. You need your senior to feel comfortable in her new home, so that might mean you have to figure out a way to meet in the middle on some of these issues.

Your Senior Might Have Her Own Social Obligations

Your elderly family member may be safer living with you than living alone, but that doesn’t mean that she spent every moment of her day alone. She may still have her own social life that she wants to maintain. That might have meant in the past that she had guests over frequently. Are you prepared to host her guests now, too?

Think about Transportation Needs Now

Is your senior still driving? It’s possible that part of the reason she’s moving in with you is that she needs extra help with a lot of activities of daily living, including giving up driving. Public transportation might be an option, but you may want to think about hiring elderly care providers to do the driving. That way your senior is assured that she’s got transportation and you know she’s safe.

The right answer for your senior could absolutely be moving in with you, but both of you need to be prepared for what that might look like. If you don’t establish some boundaries now, both of you might end up disappointed.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Elderly Care Services in Milledgeville GA please contact the caring staff at Angels of Mercy Private Homecare Services, Inc. today at 478-745-5111.

Zandrea Durham