Staying Connected With Loved Ones After Moving to Senior Living

Research shows that 20% of seniors find it increasingly difficult to live independently and that 25% aren’t confident that their community can help them in an emergency. This leads to a perceived trade-off between health and safety and independence. However, many people feel their quality of life improves once they find the right solution for assisted senior living. However, people who do choose this option fear that it can be hard to stay in touch with friends and family. Most communities cater to satisfy a retiree’s need for socialization, but here is some advice on how to stay connected and how you can bring your established social life with you to the senior community.

Using Community Activities

Whether it’s a retirement home, village, community, or center, the administration will have community activities scheduled almost every single day. These are great fun and are usually intended to give the residents ample chance to socialize and enjoy each other’s company. However, you can also use these as a social point in your calendar. Inviting your children, grandchildren, and friends over to join you on some of these days is a great way to stay connected. The activities are already prepared, you only have to send out invites with the dates. This becomes especially endearing if you deeply enjoy the activity because it gives your family and friends a window into your daily life.

Volunteering Together

You won’t be trapped in the community and will still have ample opportunity to take day trips or holidays. One of the best ways to use this to your advantage, if you find volunteer work deeply meaningful, is to invite your family and friends to volunteer at causes with you. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to volunteer but never had time, this is a great opportunity to get started. You can even invite people over just to help you cook food for a particular cause and then ask them to deliver it for you. Studies have shown that shared experiences like these boost relationships.

Asking for Help

Many different factors can contribute to a disconnected feeling once you move into independent, assisted, or memory care living quarters. It could be as simple as feeling disjointed because you’re no longer around colleagues you’ve had for decades. Maybe you’re only slightly further away from your family than you used to be and for some reason, scheduling has become difficult. It’s a strange fact in life that everybody needs help with some things sometimes. Needing help doesn’t reflect on your capability or independence at all, it’s just a natural part of most adjustments.

If you’re feeling disconnected, one of the first things you can do is ask someone to help you plan. You could ask staff to help organize your schedule so that you could see friends and family more. You could also ask them to help you set up a computer to skype or zoom with your family when you miss them. Another avenue to try is asking one of your children to organize that the family comes to visit you. You can take the same approach with one of your dearest friends. Lastly, asking a therapist to help you deal with feelings of disconnection is the best way to overcome them. Therapists journey with you and help you make plans that suit your needs precisely. They will give you personalized solutions to help you adjust and connect more with your loved ones.

Planning Well in Advance

It’s strange how some people can retire and appear busier than they’ve ever been, while others feel like life has slowed drastically. However your retirement is going, it’s important to remember that other people often age into busier phases of life as well. Your kids may be promoted to top positions in their field and/or have teenagers or college-aged kids by now. Planning around the passage of time is everything and there are some tricks to make it feel like a breeze. One thing you can try is simply setting with ample time in advance. This way, you and the other person know not to arrange anything on that day so that you can see each other. Another thing you can try is having a completely free day once a week. Make sure everyone you love knows that it’s your free day. The purpose is that then if friends or family want to pop by, they can do so knowing they aren’t interrupting anything. If you combine both options, you may end up seeing your family way more than you thought.

Staying Connected Through Technology

The best tool you have to maintain friendships and family connections is communication. The world runs on technology now, so most of your friends and family should be near their devices most of the time. The success of every other point in this list rests on you being able to reach them via cell phone. However, there are options that make for better conversations. Zoom and Skype now work on any device with a front camera (which is to say every modern device). With these, you can see your family on the screen and they can see you! Simply ask a staff member to help set you up with WiFi and apps if you don’t want to do it yourself. From there you can have face-to-face chats with loved ones whenever they aren’t nearby.

Find the Best Senior Living Solution for Yourself

Senior living (whether independent living or assisted living) comes with a normal adjustment period in which many feel more distant from their families. These feelings aren’t reflective of reality and are easily handled. You can use community activities and volunteering as an anchor point for your social life. Be sure to plan visits well in advance to make scheduling close to the time easier. Also, don’t be afraid to rely on technology or professionals for help, it’s what they’re there for. Our independent and assisted living plans can cater to all your preferences, including staying connected to friends and family. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us today to learn more about the best senior living in Rockledge, FL.