Like so many people, you are faced with a difficult decision. Which is the best Assisted living facility for the senior in my life. Just thinking about it makes you uncomfortable as you have never had to make such a decision before. One word, relax. You can do this. As a matter of fact you do it every day. You are constantly making dozens of decision but you don’t think about it as much because its not as important. Well, the same process that you use for the small decisions will server you well in this big one. We just need to break it down.
The first step is assessment. Think about what it is you are trying to achieve. What is it you are trying to do? What is the decision you are trying to make. Often this is very clear once you ask yourself the question but often when you are under stress, it seems foggy. Simple, get some help. Ask a friend, spouse, adult children to help you. Bounce your thoughts off of them and you might find that others are far more able to define the issues very clearly when they are not so close to the situation.
Okay, so now you feel a little better, its a bit clearer now what you need to do. Now its time to get into specifics. Now its time to set goals. What exactly is it you need to know. There are lots of things of course but they are all floating in your mind and not all are important. Start writing it all down. Write down that you want a place that is within an hour’s drive or that has no more than six residents. Write it all down and when you’re done, start to prioritize. Figure out which goals are really important and which you could probably live without. Once you have done this, you will probably be feeling a lot better already.
Okay, you’re doing great! You have goals now you need a plan. How are you going to find an assisted living facility that meets your goals. Maybe you are going to poor through the yellow pages, maybe you are going to use a free referral service like Caring Senior Placement. Whatever you do, think about it. Come up with a plan and then execute on the plan and start building a list of facilities that you can compare against your goals.
You are not well on your way to making an effective decision because you have armed yourself with all the tools you need. You did a careful analysis of the problem, you set goals, you made an plan and you executed the plan. The simple act of breaking it all down into bite sized pieces made the whole process much less stressful. Piece of cake right? One more thing to make it all easier, remember that your final decision isn’t really final at all. Wherever you move your senior, it will be the start of a trial period. If the facility doesn’t meet the goals you set for it, then you can always find somewhere else. Now go do it!
If you are looking for assisted senior housing for a loved one, we are here to help. Contact Caring Senior Placement for a free referral today!