Change is difficult for most everybody, and change involving a senior can be particularly tough for the entire family. This frequently involves selling the old family home, redistributing a lifetime of possessions, and moving the elder to the next safe place.

Very often that home that was perfect for raising a family is now too much for the senior to manage with all the bedrooms, bathrooms, staircases, and property. It’s actually dangerous.

Our experience has been that – if you can -- a very helpful first step is to identify the new stable, secure place where the elders will be living next. That may be a ranch, condo, assisted living, or another family member’s home. Then move out things they will need to be comfortable, often in stages – bedroom sets, prized possessions, favorite chairs, etc. You all may change your mind several times. Then settle in a bit. Once there, the family will feel a palpable sense of relief. You all will sleep better. Blood pressures will go down. It will be easier to make good decisions.

How we can help

Finding the next place. Whether it’s a short-term rental or a more permanent living situation, we can help find it. Most people end up selecting new domiciles close to the current home or some of the children. We can get things going, but we’ve found that once we get you over the hump of taking action, you will largely do this on your own.

Worksite management. It’s best if the family can move the seniors to their next living space early in the process. Sometimes this doesn’t happen. We all need to then recognize the elder will soon be living in the middle of a worksite. Items will be shifted around the house into unfamiliar places. Crews will be moving heavy objects. The entire process is stressful, especially for people possibly dealing with health issues, like blood pressure and anxiety.

For different reasons, some families need to keep the elder in the house for at least part of the job, which is essentially placing them in a work zone. This is problematic since it puts the senior in harm’s way and slows down the process.

In those cases, we recommend employing our Empaths, sensitive individuals trained to handle these kinds of issues during transition. They are social workers, caretakers, and nurses, trained to deal with their issues who focus just on the senior.