Like other seniors gauging the benefits of assisted living, you might be worrying about being only one person and getting lost in the shuffle of a bustling community. We have good news: Assisted living communities tailor care plans to each resident’s individual needs, guaranteeing that you’ll gain the right level of support now and in the coming years.

Senior care plans can improve your overall quality of life.
First and foremost, an assisted living care plan is a roadmap encompassing key aspects of your life that support a resident’s health, independence, and well-being. The best senior living communities integrate and offer care plans as an essential part of their new resident assessment and orientation procedures. Assisted living care plans guide all parties in delivering consistent care that’s tailored to your specific needs and preferences.

Because it spells out your fundamental musts, your care plan should ensure you receive personalized support that enhances your physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual wellness.

Care plans empower you to have more control over your care.
As you’re preparing to move into an assisted living community or a memory care community, you should take a central part in the creation process. You – your background and your input – will be at the heart of designing your care plan, leading your caregivers to:

• Develop, organize, and implement your care.

• Coordinate an effective communication system.

• Collaborate efficiently with everyone involved.

With a robust care plan in place, you’ll be ready and willing to embrace your new home and the support to which your trusty caregivers vow. Consider a care plan that promotes your independence, and you can enjoy increased energy, enthusiasm, and confidence – the very essence of a purposeful and thriving life.

Trace the steps involved in designing your senior care plan.
A comprehensive care plan is instrumental in assisted living. To accomplish it, you and any designated family members, physicians, and health professionals will sit down with the senior living community nurses and advisors. Together, you will discuss and evaluate many factors to:

• Assess your current status.

• Define your continuing needs and preferences.

• Outline your mutual goals and objectives.

• Craft the specific strategies and interventions that will achieve these goals and objectives.

• Confirm who will perform each responsibility.

• Write up the whole plan.

Every party should band together to become your true team, ensuring you are well cared for -and backed by your unique care plan that keeps them all informed, organized, and in agreement.

Relationship-centered communities focus closely on personalized care planning.
Seek out an assisted living community in your area that practices a relationship-centered approach. The staff members there should be exceptionally suited to observing, emphasizing, and tending to your specific considerations.

In creating your personal care plan, you'll examine and include numerous factors such as:

• Ways to get you oriented and comfortable with your new community, routine, and neighbors.

• Your medical requirements – your chronic conditions, functional limitations, essential medical care and therapies, medications and treatments, dietary restrictions and sensitivities, etc.

• Your personal preferences, including values, cultural background, religion/spirituality, lifestyle essentials, choices, experiences and achievements, etc.

• Your social needs – the activities, interests, and hobbies that you like and talents and skills you possess and can share.

• Any daily living activities you may need help with – from household chores and transportation to personal tasks including bathing, grooming, getting dressed, using the restroom, eating, being escorted around the community, managing your medication, etc.

• Any memory-related conditions you have – to provide specialized recreation and activities, brain health fitness programming, and behavioral support, plus extra safety precautions, including wander protection.

• Your financial arrangements - your available resources and how you'll fulfill financial matters.

• Those designated family members who will act as liaisons with the community and/or medical and financial powers of attorney.

• Any age-related changes that occur over time.

It's a detailed document of what makes you - well, you- and that structures your team to set you up for success.

Your assisted living care plan may change as you do.
Senior living community staff members know to monitor for changes in care needs, which are likely to increase, decrease, or simply differ as days go by. They should maintain open lines of communication, speaking with you, your family, and your physicians and health professionals and holding meetings with the entire team regularly. By doing so, they can be proactive in reviewing your care needs and adapting them accordingly. They should also update your written care plan, making certain that your documents are always precise, that your care is always consistent – and that you are always as healthy and happy as you can be.

Independent living residents generally manage their care – independently.
Trying to decide whether you should move into independent living rather than assisted living? Understand that, usually, independent living communities do not create senior care plans for their residents.

While independent living residents may still benefit from individualized attention and a host of incentives, they are more self-sufficient and do not require or receive the same level of hands-on care that assisted living residents or memory care residents do.

So, if you are…

• Starting to require more help with daily living activities, or find household maintenance and chores too much of a hazard or hassle than you have in the past, then assisted living may be best for you.

• Concerned about Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or another form of memory loss, or if you just want to be prepared for the possibility, then a memory care community can give you knowledgeable support and peace of mind.

• If you prefer to stay in one location that provides different care levels and familiar staff members who can continue to help you as your needs change, then look for a senior living community offering a continuum of care, including both assisted living and memory care.

Whatever your current or future needs, look for senior living options in your area that guarantee tailored, compassionate care, vital stability, and an emphasis on personal rapport.

Find your place in a community that values you.
Don’t go it alone. Don’t wait until a setback throws you off course. And don’t miss your opportunity to enjoy the constant care, conveniences, and camaraderie that a relationship-centered senior living community promises. Begin planning today to choose your path and transition into your new home more effortlessly than you’ve ever imagined.

Allow Stoney Brook’s professional team to guide you. We’ve skillfully designed our Central Texas assisted living communities and memory care communities so that residents can age well and savor each day to its absolute fullest. Schedule a complimentary visit to meet us in person and learn more firsthand. Plus, check out Stoney Brook’s free, insightful resources devoted to helping seniors and their caregivers. Subscribe to our blog, and be sure to read our eBook, Your Vital Guide to Senior Living and Care Options in Central Texas. Access your copy now!