Assisted living options for Tarrant County senior citizens

When the members of today’s "greatest generation" were young people and witnessing the decline of their own aging relatives, there were no options such as assisted living for seniors as we know it today.

People without family caregivers who needed hands-on support due to age or disability usually went to live in a "home," which decades ago was apt to be an institutional place where one-size-fits-all arrangements didn’t necessarily fit an individual’s needs.

"That fear, that vision, of going to a 'home’ can really frighten a person from going to assisted living," said Lindsay Casillas, marketing manager of Legend Retirement Corp., which operates several local independent and assisted living communities.

The experience of seniors residing in today’s assisted living centers is far from those of yesteryear. Assisted living communities, which provide seniors with homelike accommodations, meals, medication management, and help with such tasks as laundry, dressing and grooming, also help seniors with their social needs.

"One of the most valuable parts [of assisted living] is the social interaction that an individual will have," Casillas said.

An enhanced social life

Many new residents to assisted living were previously isolated, no longer able to drive or to attend worship services. After moving into assisted living, these seniors can attend chapel services, take group exercise, watch the news together, find fellow canasta players, if that’s their pleasure, and more.

"The social interaction is so valuable," Casillas said, and has been proven to extend life expectancy while giving people more incentive to get up and dressed each day.

Today’s assisted living communities are designed to help seniors feel at home, often containing amenities such as fireplaces, wood floors and game tables.

"The assisted living centers we have are residential, beautiful, homelike," says Casillas, whose employer operates Mirabella Assisted Living in southwest Fort Worth.

Still, seniors are often reluctant to make the move from a longtime residence to assisted living, or other senior housing.

Inquiries about assisted living usually come from two sources – the senior citizen herself, or a concerned family member, Casillas notes. It’s not uncommon for someone to go home to see mom for the holidays, and realize that mom’s not able to keep up with the house anymore, or that dad is having more trouble than ever with his memory.

Easing the transition

When a family believes that it’s time for their senior family member to stop living alone, there are ways to ease the transition to assisted living.

Betsy Allaire, community relations manager for Tanglewood Oaks in Fort Worth, advises people whose parents are candidates for assisted living to do some advance homework, pre-screening a number of assisted living centers.

"Make sure you feel comfortable in the environment that the assisted living creates, and then you know your family will, too," she said. Once you’ve narrowed it down to two or three places where you are comfortable, then bring in your mom or dad, she advises. "Don’t drag mom and dad out to 10 different places."

Seniors who are contemplating packing up the accumulated items of a home where they’ve lived for decades may feel overwhelmed.

"They’ll have a lot of angst about leaving their home," said Allaire. It helps to realize that "the memories, you take them with you," she said.

You can also take at least some of the furniture, such as a favorite chair or couch. Cumbersome items such as dining room buffets are less useful in assisted living, because they take up so much room, and because seniors often dine together in a communal area. But even these large, often sentimental items can find new homes with other family members who will appreciate their history.

Another way to carry the memories forward is to photograph the interior of the senior’s home before the packing process begins, and put the photos in a scrapbook that can be used for later reminiscing. If a senior is developing memory problems, it is also helpful to create a scrapbook with good-sized photos of family members, and include captions with names, said Allaire.

Often, seniors decide for themselves that it’s time to simplify their lives, and move to assisted living. They may want to be near friends and social opportunities, or need someone else to do the cooking, Casillas said. Or, they may just want to make the move in advance of need, so they can be settled in the right place as they age.

Sorting the goods acquired over a lifetime

Whether you are directing your own move to assisted living, or helping a senior family member make the transition, there is professional help available. DFW Senior Solutions is a relocation service based in Tarrant County that specializes in senior relocations. What sets this relocation service apart from a regular moving company is the sorting service, according to company owner Sarah Harris, a Fort Worth native. Seniors moving from a house to a smaller setting in independent or assisted living must make many decisions about each item in their home. This sorting task is the most time-consuming part of the move, Harris said. The DFW Seniors Solution staff helps the senior make one of the following decisions on each item: keep it, sell it, gift it to a child, give it to charity, or discard it in the trash can, she said. Clients are able to choose the services they need on an ala carte basis or as a turnkey operation for the entire move.

While DFW Senior Solutions is the only company of its kind in Tarrant County, there are similar companies in Dallas and Plano. More information is available from the National Association of Senior Move Managers at www.nasmm.org.

Resources:

www.aplaceformom.com

Aging & Disability Resource Center, 1300 Circle Dr., Fort Worth, 1-888-730-2372 or www.tarrantcountyadrc.org

www.dfwseniorsolutions. net