Senior Housing in Denver: Choosing the Appropriate Care

Making the Transition

Most families only want to move their loved one once. Therefore, looking for Senior Housing in Denver can be stressful because there are so many choices. Choosing the appropriate care and social setting for the long term can be a challenge. Many times families do end up moving a family member at least twice. Does that mean they made the “wrong” choice the first time? Well, it depends. Your loved one may have needed the chance to live in a community that allowed them more independence when they were transitioning from their home. Three years may have gone by and now your loved one has begun to show significant signs of dementia and a smaller setting is more appropriate. Bottom line is you may never know, but you gave them a chance to live more independently. Each senior has different medical and social needs. They are a person, not just a patient, and a lot of factors need to be taken into consideration. In addition, spending a lot of money on senior care and housing in Denver does not always mean better care.

Change is Difficult

If your loved one currently only needs over-site, meals, and transportation, then he or she is likely to fight moving to Assisted Living Denver communities. You may hear comments like, ”All of the people there are old!”, “That place is way too expensive! I will just stay at home because I can’t afford it and I am fine” or “People in assisted living are old and use walkers or wheelchairs. It is depressing.” Many times when families meet resistance they choose to respect their loved one’s wishes. We encourage you to let us help you research all the options because more times than we care to count, if your loved one stays at home or in a community that isn’t appropriate, they will fall, break a bone and end up at a rehab facility. After that, their quality of life and life expectancy will likely significantly decrease. Let’s face it, most of us don’t like change or are afraid of change, but countless seniors we have helped move are much happier and safer. They were lonely at home or in a bigger community, but they were afraid of change.

Things to Consider When Choosing Senior Housing in Denver

When we help families try and decide what is the appropriate place for their loved one to move, we ask numerous questions regarding their care and sit down with them in-person to get a sense of who they are as a person and not just what they need for care. Factors that are good to consider are your loved one’s current medical needs, social needs, and financial situation. We assess what we believe their medical needs (i.e. do they have dementia, diabetes, are they already in a wheel chair) and social needs will be in the future. Generally the longer a senior waits to move, the more likely they will end up in a medical care model (i.e. nursing home) versus a social care model (i.e. independent or assisted living community with care). Many families think their loved one must go to a nursing home because of care needs. There is a misconception that Assisted Living Facilities in Denver cannot handle a high level of care. While this is true at some facilities, it couldn’t be further from the truth at other facilities. We would be happy to talk about senior housing in Denver and care options for your loved one.