The transition of moving can be a long and daunting process. Moving during a major life transition can only be that much harder. This is often the case that families face as their parents grow older and need to make the transition to a home care facility. Health issues or simply being unable to take care of themselves are often the reasons why these moves need to happen, which can be hard to deal with for the family as well as the parent involved. Families are left with the task of finding a home care facility that they can trust while also taking into account the toll that the transition is taking on their parent.
Unless you have a plan in place for such a life event, the process can be hard to coordinate. Many children of elderly parents already have their own families to take care of, which forces them into a tough situation of performing double duty. On top of that, most parents will be moving from a larger home to an apartment-sized room or smaller, which will require quite a bit of downsizing.
At TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, we have packed and moved many seniors during our years of business. The most important thing we can recommend to anyone going through this process is to stay organized, be patient and be respectful with your parent. We’ve put together some moving tips that we believe would be of benefit to families that are facing this situation, and to make the transition go smoothly for all involved.
Moving tips for moving your parent into a home care facility
- Begin to downsize as soon as you can. Downsizing will require more time than you will expect, so it’s better to begin the process sooner rather than later. It’s important to be sensitive to this process as it can be very emotional to get rid of items that have been with your parent(s) for many years. A good way to begin is by organizing a team to help downsize, and develop a strategy on how to organize and downsize each area of the home. A helpful tip while working with your parent is to dedicate items that have value to them, but need to go, as gifts. By giving them out as gifts to relatives or friends, they won’t feel as though they’re getting rid of the item, but rather giving it to a loved one to cherish.
- Meet with a representative of the facility beforehand, so that you can plan out your move ahead of time. This will allow you to have a good understanding of how big the room will be, as well as what items you can bring along. Certain items due to the need of accessibility of medical equipment in the room, may not be allowed. A helpful idea is to work on a layout of the space on a sheet of paper.
- Make their new space feel familiar. To ease the transition of living somewhere new, replicate the room to be similar to their old home. Decorate their new home with pictures of loved ones and design esthetics so that it feels like their old one.
- Devote plenty of time towards packing. The process can be a time-consuming one to figure out what to pack and what to get rid of. Going through each item will spark stories of how your parents came to be in possession of that item. It’s important to be patient as this can be one of the hardest times during their transition to a new home. An important tip to follow is to also make sure that each and every item of value to them has been reviewed and accounted for. Go through old coats, clothes and furniture to see that nothing has been forgotten.
We hope that these tips will ease the stress that comes with making such a huge life transition. If you’re in need of professional movers, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® specializes in moving seniors and is able to offer packing, storage and moving services depending on your moving needs.