3 Features Every Senior Assisted Living Facility Needs to Have
Moving into an assisted living community is a big step. You may be waiting for the right time to make the move—but do you know what the right time may look like?
Read on to discover the signs that the time is right for the transition to assisted living.
Everything You Need to Know About Assisted Living
Assisted living is a practical solution for an adult who needs personal care assistance in daily life.
Assistance could include keeping up with appointments, medications and transportation or needing a helping hand to cook meals or to keep up the many responsibilities of a home. In that case, an assisted living facility can be the best possible move forward.
An assisted living Charlottesville facility must have essential services such as:
- Care coordination and medication administration
- Wellness programs
- Activities programs
- Dining services that include special diets and nutritious meals
- Emergency call systems for on-call personal assistance
- Housekeeping, laundry, and linen services
- 24-hour security
Assistance could include keeping up with appointments, medications and transportation or needing a helping hand to cook meals or to keep up the many responsibilities of a home. In that case, an assisted living facility can be the best possible move forward.
Three Must-Have Features in an Assisted Care Facility
1. Personal Care
An assisted living facility has caring and trained staff to assist residents in their daily care. They may need help with personal grooming or medication administration. They may need assistance to get in and out of wheelchairs or assistance at meals.
A good senior living Charlottesville facility ensures that residents receive personalized care that balances privacy and independence. There is freedom to do what they can manage and there is assistance when they cannot.
2. Transportation
Mobility challenges can be an inevitable part of aging. Navigating the home and neighborhood becomes quite risky, whether walking or driving. An assisted living facility is, therefore, a reliable way to reduce the possibility of accidents.
Residents receive comfortable and reliable transportation assistance, from a gentle hand on the elbow to a ride to a physician’s appointment. The best senior living Charlottesville facility includes daily community events and recreation opportunities that residents enjoy. Compassionate and well-trained caregivers ensure seniors arrive where they need to be safely and on time.
3. Amenities
A huge attraction for assisted living is the amenities available for residents. The best assisted living Charlottesville facilities create a home away from home with extra features that promote a holistic lifestyle. Several important amenities in a senior living facility include:
- A fitness center: Our age-appropriate exercise programs such as stretches, pilates, chair yoga, and greatly benefit seniors’ bodies and minds.
- A restaurant or café: In addition to three healthy, nutritious meals daily, our senior living Charlottesville facility offers an alternative for residents to enjoy a family lunch, dinner, or cocktail service with their friends and family.
- Gardens and patios: Our residents can enjoy a walk-through pleasant gardens or relax with a friend on the deck for a stimulating conversation. Our gardens and patios are a natural environment that provide easy access to enjoying many outdoor activities, and getting fresh air and sunshine.
- A beauty salon and barber shop: Everyone needs good pampering regardless of age. The best assisted living Charlottesville facilities ensure that residents can look and feel their best. Our salon and barber shop offers manicures, pedicures, hair styling, and more.
- A library: Reading is an excellent way for seniors to pass the time while sharpening their minds. Our well-stocked library includes books, newspapers, magazines, and computers with internet access. RoseWood Village has it all.
- A therapy pool: An indoor therapy pool can help residents enjoy some exercise or just relax in the warm water. Our heated pool is also ideal for year-round use.
- A movie theater: Films and documentaries are excellent leisure activities for seniors. Our movie theater in RoseWood Village assisted living facility promotes a sense of community and provides shared enjoyment.
These amenities bring senior living facility residents together promoting a wholesome community. It is important to choose an assisted living Charlottesville facility that helps residents remain healthy, happy, and active.
How to Tell If It’s Time for Assisted Living
The effects of aging are undeniable. When it is time to consider a senior living Charlottesville facility, here are some indicators that can help.
1. Healthy Living Begins with Healthy Nutrition
Among the tasks of getting groceries, preparing meals, and cleaning up, meeting nutritional needs as a senior can be a challenge. Dining services are a wonderful perk of assisted living. Food is prepared with both taste, nutrition, and quality in mind, and each meal becomes a social event.
2. Safety and Seniors
Falls can take a serious toll on the physical health and mobility of seniors. If the home living space has tripping hazards or mobility barriers, falls may be a concern. At an assisted living facility with floor plans designed with accessibility in mind, as well as mobility aids like handrails already installed, fall risk is much lower. Should a fall occur, staff members are on hand 24/7, so help is just a moment away.
3. Tasks of Daily Living
Tasks of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, and moving about, may become more difficult. Struggling with day-to-day tasks can impact quality of life negatively. In an assisted living community, there are caregivers on hand who have been trained to help with the tasks have become challenging. Easing the burden of everyday tasks allows residents to focus on leading a more comfortable life.
4. Memory Care
Age-related memory loss can be normal as the brain ages. However, forgetting important occasions such as physician’s appointments or medications can adversely affect health. Assisted living caregivers can manage medical appointments by updating schedules, providing transportation, reminders to take medications on time and medication administration.
5. Socialization
Loneliness is a common concern among seniors. Feelings of isolation have been linked to depression, cognitive decline, and even heart disease.
One of the benefits of a senior living facility is the social calendar. Not only do residents spend their days with new friends and neighbors, but most communities also boast full calendars of activities to choose from, as well as amenities designed for socialization and enjoyment.
How to Choose an Assisted Living Facility
Choosing to move to assisted living may cause stress and emotions for seniors and their families. The signs may be clear that senior care is needed, but it is still difficult to leave a home and community. To help make this decision, ask these questions:
- Is more support needed than family and friends can offer?
- Is the feeling of loneliness and isolation growing?
- Are mobility challenges preventing getting help? If there is a fall, is the phone accessible to call a friend, family, or emergency number?
- Is it more difficult to drive or access transportation?
- Is it becoming more difficult to maintain home upkeep, lawns, repairs, and housekeeping?
If the answer is yes to these questions, it is time to search for a senior assisted living facility and use this checklist to ensure it is the right choice:
- Inquire if there are registered nurses among the care team
- Ask about caregivers’ availability at night and during emergencies
- Interact with the residents and ask about life at the facility
- Inquire about hobbies, groups, and activities that may be of interest
- Check the assisted living facility’s safety, cleanliness, and accessibility features
- Sample the food and ask for the menu available for residents and families
- Observe the team’s responses to your questions and concerns
- Verify the assisted living facility’s licensing and compliance with your state and local regulatory agencies
Why RoseWood Village Is the Best Assisted Living Charlottesville Facility
RoseWood Village Assisted Living and Memory Care is the ideal place to live. Our Main Street design immediately feels like home, and our amenities and services can provide needed care. RoseWood Village’s mission is to promote a healthy and supported lifestyle for our residents.
Our care team is available 24/7, ready to assist with attentive, professional care for every resident. We encourage you to give us a call to arrange a visit to our Greenbrier or Hollymead assisted living communities to see how our senior living Charlottesville team serves our residents. When you are looking for senior assisted living, RoseWood Village is ready to answer all your questions and concerns. Contact us today.
