Across the province of Ontario, there are many retirement homes. Most are superb, many are inadequate. It is important to differentiate between the good, the bad, and the ugly by employing a wide panoply of measures.
In addition to doing your research and due diligence, it is imperative to complement your navigation with your parents, too. They need to be the ones to ultimately agree to move to a retirement care community. In other words, you can’t just randomly select a retirement home and drop off your parents the next day. This is a long, arduous, and extensive endeavour that should not be taken lightly.
How can you be assured you have opted for the right establishment? Don’t make these mistakes. Here are five mistakes adult children make when picking retirement homes:
1. Refraining from the Due Diligence
We research the best data plans for our smartphones. We research the best Chinese restaurant in our neighbourhood. We research the best ovens and refrigerators for our condominium.
Why don’t we do the same for retirement homes? It’s a good question. But you should.
Here are a few things you should do when researching for a retirement home:
- Find out if it’s licensed by the provincial Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority.
- Read various testimonials, reviews, and ratings from past clients.
- Look around and compare retirement homes.
- Determine if it is publicly-owned or privately-owned.
By adopting these steps in the decision-making process, you can feel confident in knowing that you have chosen the best retirement home for your aging parents’ needs.
2. Not Including Your Parents
One of the worst things you can do is exclude you aging relatives from picking what retirement living community they will reside in for their winter years.
This is even worse if they don’t want to move into an elderly care facility.
From the moment you decide that they will live in a retirement home to the time you drop them off and move all of their things in, it is critical that they participate in every step.
3. Selecting the Cheapest Retirement Home
Yes, we are all tight for cash. The sandwich generation – those who have aging parents and children – are being squeezed. Everything from high rates of taxation to a rising cost of living, it can be extremely difficult to live day to day.
That said, when you’re in the market for a retirement home, you should never be cheap.
Since your parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents will be living at these retirement homes for many years to come, you will want an establishment that offers security, privacy, meals, comfort, and a wide array of other services. The price-tag shouldn’t be the determining factor.
4. Refusing to Dine at the Facility
Before signing off on the retirement home, you need to visit the retirement community. The main thing you need to do is to eat at the facility. Again, your family member(s) will be eating this food three times per day, so you want to have high-quality food meals.
You can only find out if you stay for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Also, as you perform your due diligence, you can read reviews and check out meal plans.
5. Dropping Off Your Parents – And That’s It
A primary concern that retirement home occupants have is that once they move into their suite, they will rarely see their children and grandchildren. This is often the case why they relent.
You must never neglect, avoid or abandon your parents once you drop them off.
During the transitional phase, it is essential to visit your parents on a regular basis. Once they feel at home, then you create a schedule to see them – and be sure to bring the grandkids.
Moving forward, it is critical to always involve your elderly parents in your life.
Living in a retirement home is a big step for aging individuals. That giant leap from their own home to a retirement community is stressful, concerning, and even heart-wrenching for all parties. But it doesn’t have to be as long as you involve the whole family in the entire process, and by visiting them frequently. Otherwise, they’ll be apprehensive, morose, and unwanted. You don’t want this to be the case.
