Are You Ready for a Senior Living Community?

Rick Wigginton, SVP of Sales at Brookdale communities, has been able to help countless families make the move to join a senior living community, and his insights may help you move forward and live better sooner.

Consider your mental well-being just as much as your physical.

“Loneliness can happen at us, but living a lonely life long term becomes a choice,” says Wigginton. When you outlive friends and relatives, it may seem like the world is just happening around you, instead of including you. This can be a huge detriment to your overall health.

Even before the COVID pandemic isolated many of us, about one-third of seniors were lonely, according to a national poll on healthy aging conducted by the University of Michigan. These researchers also suggest that loneliness may negatively impact health even more than being overweight and sedentary. In fact, many researchers believe prolonged loneliness can be as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Choosing to live in an environment that lets you surround yourself with peers, social events and activities is important in warding off loneliness — regardless of whether you need daily assistance or not.

Independence doesn’t always mean living in your own house.

Unfortunately, some may think moving out of your private residence into a senior living community is like giving up, or being unable to keep up with the challenges of aging. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When you think of everything that’s tied to running a household — laundry, dishes, yard work, monthly bills, long-term home maintenance — the everyday tasks can be overwhelming and limit what you could be doing and enjoying at this stage in your life.

Independence is actually the ability to exercise freedom of choice in the moment. Going for a walk. Meeting a friend for brunch. Attending an art class. Or taking up a new hobby. These are just a few of the options that residents enjoy every day in senior living communities. And oftentimes, these residents even feel as if they have a restored sense of independence after moving from their private residence.

If you’re even thinking about joining a senior living community, the time is right.

Looking into joining a senior living community early — before an injury from a fall or a health decline — ensures that you are the one making decisions for yourself. You can do your own research, find a community that makes you feel at home and truly enjoy all the perks senior living communities offer. This will also make your transition easier if you someday do require assistance and additional healthcare.

Think about all the things associated with getting older that are starting to get harder for you to manage today. What if you could make much of that easier to manage?  If the hard stuff was easier, think about all the things you could be enjoying differently: new hobbies you could try, new friends you could make and new places you could go. When you factor in your everyday quality of life and everything it means for your overall health, you may find that the right time to join is actually now.

If you already need assistance, don’t worry. It’s never too late to start living your best life with the opportunities and conveniences that a senior living community offers.

Interested in taking that first step? Reach out to Brookdale to plan your visit today.