Sooner or later, old age creeps up on everyone. As the years pass by, certain milestones come and go, acting as landmarks in a full and richly lived life. In early adulthood, earning a driver’s license and acquiring one’s first car is exhilarating, and brings with it the thrilling independence of going anywhere one wishes whenever one wishes. Likewise, establishing oneself in a career provides financial autonomy, as well as a sense of pride and personal accomplishment. Later in life, the purchase of a house and property brings with it a sense of security and a feeling of maturity and provides the living space needed to grow a family. But there comes a time when careers end, upkeep of a household and property becomes overly burdensome, children have families of their own, and driving a car turns into a more difficult proposition than it was previously. Sooner or later, old age creeps up on everyone.
When that time arrives, it may be wise to consider the many positive aspects of relocating to an assisted living facility. But why is this a decent, if not preferable option to living on one’s own? What exactly are the advantages of becoming a retirement home resident? The following is a brief list of five major benefits to living in an assisted living facility, as presented by Dre’s Lodge Retirement Home.
Retirement Homes Provide a Sense of Community
It is a sad fact of life that as people enter advanced age, it is far more likely that they become lonely and disengaged from the community. Many times, this is not a choice, but rather the result of prohibitive physical conditions, or a lack of access to reliable transportation. Living in a retirement home mitigates these obstacles to socialization, and in the case of transportation, removes them altogether.
With regard to physical impairments, retirement homes are well-equipped with walkers, wheelchairs, and many other types of specialized equipment designed to assist those with mobility issues. Past that, an assisted living home has staff on-call at all hours, ready to provide any help necessary to those who require it. The problem of reliable transportation hindering socialization is also rendered moot due to the way retirement facilities are laid out architecturally. A retirement home is something akin to a campus for the elderly. Residents all live in the same complex, and though they are housed in separate rooms, they all are quite close to one another, facilitating easy interaction with neighbors. Dre’s Lodge Retirement Home explains that socialization is encouraged through specially guided group outings, regularly scheduled game nights, and many diverse forms of entertainment.
Retirement Homes Offer Many Amenities in a Single Complex
One of the defining features of assisted living facilities is their many amenities. Necessarily, because retirement home residents are somewhat more encumbered by physical limitations than other members of society, assisted living facilities are built with spaces allocated for shops and services. These include common rooms, libraries, hair salons, spas, physical therapy rooms, and medical stations. The provision of space for these amenities is meant to limit the need for residents to venture beyond the complex for the necessities of life or everyday services.
Many retirement homes also feature elaborate outdoor gardens and walking areas, complete with benches, gazebos, and picnic areas. Indeed, retirement facilities are designed with all the potential wants and needs of their residents in mind, stationed under the same roof for the easiest possible access.
Retirement Homes Provide Safety and Security
Another benefit of relocating to a retirement home is the safety and security it provides. Because they are designed specifically with the health and well-being of seniors in mind, assisted living facilities are replete with safety features. For example, most retirement homes have adopted enhanced fire safety systems, above and beyond what is prescribed by law. All hallways and rooms are extremely well-lit in order to limit visibility issues. Showers and tubs have rails and anti-slip pads. If a complex is more than one storey, it is likely to have elevators or chair lifts.
As for security, Dre’s Lodge Retirement Home explains that residents can rest easy knowing that their buildings are staffed around the clock by dedicated personnel, patrolling the halls and keeping watch at the entrances. Every assisted living facility worth its salt has an employee with security training stationed at the front reception desk no matter the time of day. Consequently, break-ins, robberies, vandalism, or unwanted guests are all non-issues.
Life in a Retirement Home All but Eliminates Maintenance
Put simply, residents of retirement homes do not have to perform any of the routine acts of maintenance on their dwellings that occupy normal homeowners. Once a person is admitted to a home, there is no more cleaning of gutters, mowing of lawns, shovelling of driveways, or even changing of light bulbs—no, all these tasks are taken care of by an assisted living facility’s staff. Even everyday chores such as meal preparation and laundry service are managed by staff, if the resident so desires. This greatly reduces the chances that an elderly relative gets injured while trying to do daily tasks.
Retirement Homes Provide Peace of Mind
Finally, living in a retirement home provides its residents with peace of mind. In the event of a problem or emergency, retirement homes keep trained staff on duty 24 hours a day. Say an accidental tumble to the floor is taken and it is not possible to easily stand up. Whereas those that live on their own may struggle for hours trying to regain their footing or crawl to a telephone, those that live in a retirement home have only to call for help and, almost instantly, a staff member will appear to help them to their feet. Or, heaven forbid, say a serious medical emergency strikes in the wee hours of the morning. Whereas those that live on their own run a much higher risk of a bad outcome due to isolation and incapacitation, those that live in a retirement home have only to cry out “help!” or push a crisis button and an ambulance will be promptly summoned. Truly, those that live in retirement homes sleep soundly at night knowing that, should the unthinkable occur, help is just down the corridor.
Sooner or later, old age creeps up on everyone. When it does, consider the many advantages of living in a retirement home. Chief among these are a sense of community, a wide variety of easily accessible amenities, enhanced safety and security, the elimination of maintenance, and, finally, peace of mind. Dre’s Lodge Retirement Home concludes that compared with the many disadvantages of remaining in a private residence well past one’s prime years, relocating to a retirement home may well serve to improve one’s overall quality of life.
