Updated Jan 31, 2024
When it comes to senior living options, aging at home is the number one preference for 75 percent of adults ages 50 and over. Despite its popularity, however, independent living isn’t always the best living arrangement for older adults.1 There is a middle ground: by inviting them to live with you, you can provide your parents the privacy, dignity, and comfort of a family residence without the hazards, upkeep, and isolation of remaining in their current home.
If you’re an adult child working toward elderly parents moving in, read on for tips to help with moving day, the preparation leading up to it, and successful cohabitation long after.
Preparing Your Home for Senior Parents
There’s no single authoritative checklist for moving older parents into your home, but keep in mind: this transition requires more than emptying a few drawers as you might for a houseguest. As the family caregiver, you’ll need to consider a number of different objectives to create a safe, comfortable, and welcoming environment for your parent.
- Home Safety – To improve home safety for seniors, tape down slippery rugs, add more lighting to dim spaces, and get rid of piles of clutter. For seniors, falls are the highest cause of fatal injuries, and the first incident doubles their chance of falling again.2,3
- Accessibility – Making your home accessible will likely incur the highest cost of caring for senior parents, but this investment is more than worthwhile. Even if there are no walkers or wheelchairs in use, aging can bring losses in strength, flexibility, and mobility that require home modifications. You can increase accessibility by creating wide, clear pathways for older adults and using specialty furniture, adaptive tools, and smart home technology.
- Comfort – Helping an aging parent adjust from visiting your house as a guest to fully feeling at home requires attention to their physical and emotional comfort. That could mean adding their well-loved recliner to your living room setup, providing a cozy, private space for them to relax in, or making your home feel equally theirs any way you can.
Make Room for Them
Your loved one has had a lifetime to develop preferences, collect treasured belongings, and create a home that fits them just right. While you can’t recreate that same home when they move in, you can:
- Ask what they value about their furnishings and belongings
- Find out if they’re ready to hand down some treasures to friends or grandchildren, helping them get organized to do so
- Consider their sensory preferences –– colors, textures, scents, patterns –– and look for ways to integrate these elements into their new space
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Make Moving Day a Positive Event
It’s easy to get lost in the stressful overload of the moving process. So, amidst the hustle and bustle of moving day, lead with empathy to remain focused on the ultimate goal of this event: inviting your loved one into your home and a space that is safe, comfortable, and theirs. Set the right tone and keep spirits high by ensuring you:
- Get enough sleep
- Plan time and menus for meals, snacks, and hydration breaks
- Start the day with a group hug, a pep talk, a prayer, or whatever works for your family –– and end the day with a similar spirit of camaraderie
Give a Joyous Welcome
Help older parents moving in feel loved and welcome with some early preparation and by taking a few moments together before everyone heads to bed on the first day. Consider:
- Putting together a welcome basket of some favorite treats and household comforts
- Writing a heartfelt note ahead of time that you can give them on their first night
- Scheduling a short, casual open house during the first week for friends and neighbors
Tips to Settle In Together
No matter how well you get along now, adjusting to living with senior parents can be a process. Ease the way with these methods:
- Communicate – Often, early, and in an even tone. If tempers get hot, step away and cool down. Take ownership of your feelings, preferences, and assumptions, and above all, stay calm. Consider family meetings with rules including “respect others” and “say it kindly.” Practice intentionality with these meetings, making time to address problems regardless of how busy life can get.
- Gather – Even though you’re living on the same plot, be proactive about spending quality time together. This can mean sitting down for family meals at regular intervals, scheduling a classic movie night or a card game, or getting out of the house and going on a long drive.
- Celebrate flexibility – Although your parent may be moving into your home, this transition will be as much of an adjustment for them as it is for you. Adjusting to the changes on both sides requires creative thinking and a willingness to negotiate, try new things, and be flexible. Throughout this process, whenever you and your parent successfully come together to find a comfortable common ground, celebrate these wins –– no matter how small they may seem.
Help with the Transition to a New Home
Welcoming your parents to their new home includes the big step of dealing with their old home –– downsizing belongings, packing to move, and preparing for a sale.
Truehold's sell and stay transaction is a way to bridge this process. Instead of all the costs, time, and work involved in finding a qualified real estate professional and prepping a property for an open house, you can close on a sale quickly and continue to make use of it as a renter.
Take your time transitioning parents to a new home and getting them comfortable in a new setting. In the meantime, Truehold will take over responsibility for property insurance and property tax, as well as essential repairs so you can make this transition a smooth one for all parties involved.
Ready to learn more? Contact us today to find out if a sell and stay transaction is right for your family.
Sources:
- AARP. Where We Live, Where We Age: Trends in Home and Community Preferences: 2021 Home and Community Preferences Survey: A National Survey of Adults Age 18-Plus. https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/livable-communities/housing/2021-home-community-preferences/
- Lively. Falls in the elderly: statistics. https://www.lively.com/health-and-aging/elderly-falls-statistics/
- CDC. Older Adult Fall Prevention: Facts About Falls. https://www.cdc.gov/falls/facts.html
