Senior Sidekicks
  • Home
    • Vacation & Stand-By Plans
    • About
    • Advocacy
    • FAQ
    • Contact
  • Consultations
    • Consultation Gift Certificate
  • Senior Care Course
    • Parenting Your Parent
  • Blogs & Articles
    • Do You Know Someone In This Situation? - Blog
    • A Senior Moment
    • "A Senior Moment." - Archive
    • Article Portfolio
  • Home
    • Vacation & Stand-By Plans
    • About
    • Advocacy
    • FAQ
    • Contact
  • Consultations
    • Consultation Gift Certificate
  • Senior Care Course
    • Parenting Your Parent
  • Blogs & Articles
    • Do You Know Someone In This Situation? - Blog
    • A Senior Moment
    • "A Senior Moment." - Archive
    • Article Portfolio

Has Your Senior Outgrown The House?

10/23/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
How do you know when this old house is the wrong house now? Seniors who are reluctant to move may refuse to leave. 

One senior refused to leave her old neighborhood even though the neighborhood had changed.  As she left for church one morning, she was shot in the heart by a stray bullet.  Waiting to move until there’s a crisis means the senior loses control of the move.  The senior who was shot was moved by others.  They didn’t know what she had wanted to take with her; she lost some things which made her very sad.

Taking your senior on a decision-making journey helps them to see for themselves that things have changed.  A senior realized a move was necessary when she needed more medical care.  The house by the lake was too far away.  She spent anxious moments waiting for first responders to arrive when she was in need.

A house is not a home, even though some seniors think they’re the same.  One  senior wanted to keep e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, including the china hutch.  She measured her new apartment to show it would fit. However, the movers couldn’t get it through the front door.  Perhaps it doesn’t fit after all.  What else won’t “fit”?   We move into a house and we make it a home. 

What’s really important to your senior? It’s probably not the kitchen sink or the screen door. Important things, like photos and mementos, can go anywhere.  These can go to the next housing phase.  Senior  won’t lose the important things: their history. 

One family referred to the next phase of housing as a new “home”.  Their senior dug in her heels and refused to do anything!  The family called for my help.  I asked the senior to define the word “home”.  She described an early 20th century county old age home!  I explained that the last of those had been torn down years ago.  I offered her a different option; her own apartment with indoor mail box and a grounds crew to mow and shovel.  She was willing to learn more.

How has your senior’s old neighborhood changed? Sometimes they need to see it for themselves.  I took my Grandfather out to his front porch. Together we remembered the old neighborhood. He talked about the people who once lived there, the streetcar track, and the horses stabled at the end of the street.  Each time I asked him, “Where are they now?”  At the end he was silent for a moment.  Then he said;”They’re all gone”.  I offered that if all the people and horses had left, maybe it was OK for him to move on as well.  “I like my front porch!” my Grandfather said emphatically.  “You’re right; your next place MUST have a front porch!” I said just as emphatically.  Then my grandfather pointed to the two trees in the front yard.  “I planted those to shade the house”, he said.  “They do a great job”, I told him.  “100 years from now, they’ll stand as a testament to your efforts”.

Referring to changes as; the next phase of life, works better than to call it; giving up your home. One of my clients was forced to move when she was robbed at home, twice! Even so, she was very upset about leaving.  I took her for lunch and a tour of a senior apartment building.  She gazed in awe at the beautiful chandelier in the lobby.  She did a double-take when a uniformed waiter asked for our luncheon order. After lunch, we toured several apartments.  As we drove back to her house I asked her what she thought.  “It looks so nice”,  she said, “When can I move?”

Another senior had been a great gardener.  He was unhappy about leaving his garden.  I contacted a newly-constructed facility and asked about gardening plots.  On our tour, they pointed out future space for residents’ gardens.  The senior explained that the area had too much shade and offered another part of the yard.  Since the plots were not yet set, the staff agreed to consider his idea.  He would be their gardening consultant!  He moved.

Seniors may see a change of housing as a loss of who they used to be; show them how they keep their interests, their memories and mementos. 

 If you would like our 
Free Has Your Senior Outgrown The House? Checklist please check mark your request below, and submit.

    Free Has Your Senior Outgrown The House? Checklist

House Checklist
0 Comments

    Author

     "A Senior Moment" is written by Ms. Sara Lieber, owner of Senior Sidekicks. Ms. Lieber has over 30 years of experience in senior care.


    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    1918 Spanish Flu
    AARP
    Adult Children
    Age
    Aging Population
    Alocohol
    Alzheimer's Association
    Alzheimr's
    American Society On Aging
    Art
    Bbc
    Bbc Worklife
    Blog
    Bosses
    Campaign
    Care
    Caregivers
    Caregivers Guilt
    Caregiver Shortage
    Caregiving
    Cargiving
    Catastrophic
    CDC
    CDC Guidelines
    Changes
    Children
    Christmas
    Churches
    Classes
    Community
    Consultation
    Consulting
    Coroanavirus
    Coronavirus
    Corona Virus 19
    Corona Virus-19
    Cortisol
    Counselors
    Course
    Covid
    Crazy
    Dementia
    Depressoin
    Designer Drugs
    Downsizing
    Drugs
    Drug Testing
    Elder Boom
    Elderly
    Employer
    Employers
    Employment
    Face Masks
    Faith
    Families
    Family Medical Leave Act
    Fight Or Flight Response
    FLMA
    Flu
    God
    Greeting Cards
    Grief
    Guilt
    Hanukka
    Health Complaints
    Hearing Aids
    Holidays
    Home
    Home Care
    House
    Hr
    Human Rescources
    Illinois
    Immune System
    Isolation
    Legacy
    Mail
    Maine
    Mandate
    Medicaid
    Medical Visit Companion
    Memory
    Memory Loss
    Million
    News
    Next Avenue
    Nursing Home
    Opioid Epidemic
    Opioids
    Organizations
    Paid Time Off
    Pandemic
    Parents
    Pastoral Counselors
    Performance
    Photos
    Planning
    Plans
    Polio
    Post Office
    Preparing To Parent Your Parent Course
    Presidential Campaign 2020
    Psychiatric Disorder
    PTO
    Public Education Program
    Quarantine
    Real Estate
    Realtors
    Realty
    Religious
    Retirement
    Sara Lieber
    Self Care
    Self-care
    Senior Depression
    Senior Population
    Seniors
    Senior Sidekicks
    Sheltering In Place
    Shelter In Place
    Shortage
    SHRM
    Sisters
    Social Distancing
    Social Isolation Task Force
    Solcial Isolation
    Special Occassion Service
    Special Occassion Services
    Springfield
    Stamps
    State Agencies
    Stay-At-Home Orders
    Stress
    Stress Hormone
    Stressors
    Study
    Sugar
    Sundowner
    Symptom
    Symptom Picture
    Symptoms
    Synagogues
    Thanksgiving
    The Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit
    The Older Americans Act
    Two
    United States
    United States Wages
    Unpaid Family Care
    US Mail
    U.S. Wages
    VA
    Vaccines
    Valentine's Day
    Veterans
    Veterans Financial
    Virus
    Visiting Olivia
    Visits
    Worker Shortage
    Worklife
    Young People

Proudly powered by Weebly