When considering a move to a senior living community, many people assume the summer months are the ideal time to help their loved ones make the transition. And while there are good arguments for this opinion, what many people don’t realize is that a winter move is perhaps a far better time to ensure your aging loved ones stay as healthy and happy as possible, and allows many advantages.
Why Make a Winter Move to a Senior Living Community?
1. A winter move promotes physical well-being.
There are very few people who find themselves outside more frequently during the winter months. This is even more true for seniors. With the advent of ice and cold weather, seniors are more likely to experience dangerous falls—especially those seniors who have to continue to see to home maintenance chores like shoveling—and the increased likelihood of sickness, which keeps many of them indoors. This leads to a decrease in physical activity, which can be detrimental to their overall health.
Those who choose to move to senior living communities, on the other hand, have access to many different forms of physical activity, all within the safety of their community. From carefully groomed sidewalks that allow residents to walk about without fear of ice slips to indoor classes that not only maintain but build physical strength, senior living communities ensure residents’ physical well-being doesn’t suffer during winter.
2. A move in winter supports emotional well-being.
Seniors are particularly susceptible to “winter sadness,” because winter weather can isolate them by preventing their driving out or even leaving their homes for neighborhood walks. The loneliness and isolation and even boredom winter brings can quickly evolve into seasonal depression or even seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder can lead to a lack of energy, a loss of appetite, difficulty concentration, and increased anxiety, among other symptoms. Each of these individually are dangerous for seniors; taken together, they can be very serious and can make it difficult for seniors to stay healthy in winter.
However, seniors who move to senior living communities are far less likely to have an opportunity to experience emotional changes caused by the weather. Surrounded by community, with transportation and entertainment easily available, residents are protected from both loneliness and isolation. Furthermore, with highly qualified staff trained to identify symptoms of emotional distress, senior living communities are excellent at protecting your loved ones from the advent of seasonal affective disorder.
3. A winter move ensures access to care.
As recent events have shown us, even forecasted storms can turn nastier than expected, preventing people from accessing basic necessities like food, water, medicines, and health care. Even when storms are not catastrophic, seniors who struggle to drive in bad weather can find it difficult to get to grocery stores, drug stores, or health care facilities.
Residents at senior living communities, on the other hand, never experience these difficulties. Not only do they have three healthy meals provided for them every day—along with nutritious snacks—senior living communities are well-stocked with the necessary drugs seniors need to maintain their health. Moreover, medical staff are always on call and can provide in-home visits any time of the day or night, no matter the weather.
4. A move in the wintertime is proactive.
It can feel overwhelming to take the first step in a big transition. However, as you begin to process this move for your loved one, it’s important to consider:
- Physical Health: It’s far easier to maintain good physical health than it is to bring someone back to good physical health after long periods of inactivity.
- Protect Against Depression: It’s far simpler to protect against depression through active social time and entertainment opportunities than it is to help a loved one recover from the very serious effects of seasonal affective disorder.
- Emergency Services: It’s far more important to ensure the necessary medical care at all times just in case rather than risk your loved one not having the medicine or care they need in times of emergency.
Choosing to help your loved one transition to a senior living community now, even in winter, is a proactive move that prevents regrets and ensures your loved one has what he or she needs even before they know they need it. Even better, helping your loved one move now opens the doors for them to make the transition more smoothly, and build a stronger community, while they are as strong and healthy as possible.
If you are not sure how to get started, or want to learn more about how we help our seniors thrive during the long, cold winter, give us a call! Here at Morningside, we offer guided tours to showcase the many ways we keep our seniors happy and healthy in the winter months. Give us a call or visit us online to schedule a tour today. We would love to show you around!