Senior Living Activities: Making The Most Of A Visit
By Jeannette Franks, PhD
Whether you are crossing the country or crossing the street to visit your loved one in her new home, it can be difficult to adjust your familiar relationship with someone who has moved to a new environment. Nursing homes can be especially challenging, but even independent or assisted living communities can alter family dynamics.
Where your parents might once have been completely in charge of the kitchen, the garden, and everything from the plumbing to the gutters, they may now feel like guests in their own home. Some retirement communities offer a "hospitality" lifestyle, where amenities and senior living activities are provided just like room service in a fine hotel. In the past you and your parents may have shared everyday tasks together like mowing the lawn or car maintenance. Things like meal preparation and cleanup were done as a family-now most of those jobs are done by staff in the community. In this new environment, you will have to find new activities to share and ways to make a visit mutually rewarding and meaningful.
This article continues at Senior Living Activities.