Moving can be complicated, especially for seniors going from a larger home to a smaller one. It can be emotional since it often means going through a lifetime’s worth of memories and things. Thankfully, with the help of senior home care and loved ones, seniors can process their feelings and complete the act of downsizing easier. Consider the following moving checklist when working with seniors on the move.
Tips to Take the Stress Out of Moving
- Start Early: Start the process of downsizing as soon as possible to avoid stress at the last minute. Discuss the plan with seniors for a few months before the move happens to create a suitable plan. With senior home care assisting, this conversation can be consistent and positive.
- Create a Plan: Make a plan for moving that lists what seniors need to do and gives them a sensible time frame for each step.
- Measure Your New Space: Loved ones can measure the new house’s rooms, doorways, and hallways, helping them determine what things they can take with them, what things need to be sold, and what items can be given away. Additionally, the senior home care team can help with the sorting.
- Downsize Your Furniture: Seniors should choose furniture that takes up less room when they can. Large pieces that won’t fit the new home should be given away or sold. Also, loved ones and the senior home care team can help them find multipurpose furniture that works for their specific conditions, such as lift chairs or ottomans.
- Notification and Documentation: Documents can be digitized by scanning essential papers and pictures to make digital copies. This reduces the need for physical storage space. In addition, seniors should let the post office, banks, insurance companies, doctors, and any payments or memberships that need to be changed know that they have moved.
If seniors move away from their current providers, they will need to research new providers, which could take some time, depending on their particular needs. It’s important for loved ones to be up to date with their current conditions and to lean on senior home care for any changes that occur in order to find the right fit. Also, senior home care can assist with transportation to and from appointments, as well as medication management or any other needs seniors have in their new home.
Moving and downsizing can be hard on your emotions, but having help can make it easier. The senior home care team can remind seniors that downsizing doesn’t mean eliminating all their memories. Instead, it means deciding what’s most essential and making their new home comfortable and easy to handle for this new part of their life. Still, it is an emotional time, requiring a solid team to keep things organized, support seniors when they feel overwhelmed, and provide a continuum of care when possible. When it’s time for seniors to make a move, consider the following tips and find a moving checklist online to help.
Sources:
https://www.thezebra.com/resources/home/downsizing-tips-for-seniors/
https://www.redfin.com/blog/seniors-guide-to-downsizing/
https://www.lifestorage.com/blog/moving/downsizing-for-seniors/
If you or an aging loved one are considering senior home care in Schoolcraft, MI, please contact the caring staff at Fresh Perspective Home Care today. Call (269) 329-4717.
Fresh Perspective Home Care is a trusted non-medical senior home care provider in Kalamazoo, Portage, Mattawan, Richland, Vicksburg, Schoolcraft, Three Rivers, Gull Lake, Yorkville and Otsego, Michigan.
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