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How to Choose a Retirement Community that Is Right for Your Loved One
Yong Lee • Apr 06, 2020
Choosing to put your loved one in a retirement community or even broach the topic is understandably a struggle for many adult children in the United States. It’s also an often-unavoidable conversation that many people eventually must go through.
Independence is hugely important to most older Americans. Luckily, that’s not something they have to give up at every retirement community. Active retirement communities, for example, put an emphasis on encouraging and nurturing independence for as long as possible.
It’s important to make the distinction to your parents in these conversations. An active retirement community is not a daycare for old people. No one will invade your personal space, try to help you get into and out of the shower or treat you like an invalid.
The communities may serve three meals a day, offer cleaning services, transportation to and from doctor’s appointments or bring in personal trainers and Yoga instructors, but that’s as close as they get to providing meaningful hands-on assistance to residents.
Seniors in active retirements communities essentially get to continue living the same way they were before except without the responsibilities of homeownership and all the hassles that entails. If residents want, they can go to the grocery store, but they also don’t have to because great meals are served everyday in a restaurant-like setting.
Some of the distinctions between an assisted living community and an independent senior living community are becoming even clearer with the coronavirus.
Every person, whether they’re old or young, should be worrying about the coronavirus. Much of the early emphasis of Covid-19 was specifically focused on at-risk people, mainly older Americans. The world’s experience as the pandemic progressed proved this virus is dangerous for everyone, regardless of their age.
At Timberhill Villa, we take the safety of our residents seriously. Residents at Timberhill Villa are currently sheltering in place. The temperatures and health of staff and medical personnel on the premises are being monitored to ensure no one showing symptoms is entering the premises. Timberhill Villa’s team are delivering meals to residents as well as daily newsletters filled with timely information, inspiration messages, humor, puzzles and other entertainment to help residents stay informed and pass the time as comfortably as possible.
Only Timberhill Villa staff and medical personnel are currently allowed on the premises, which is why we can unfortunately not offer tours of our facility at this time. We are following all necessary precautions and regulations recommended or mandated by city, county and state health officials. Our staff and residents are looking forward to getting back to normal, and we’ll be happy to resume offering tours as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes!
Finding a Community That’s a Right Fit for Your Loved One
It’s a good idea to do some research before you go into a conversation with your loved one about moving into an assisted living or active retirement community. There’s understandably a stigma around these communities – mainly because there are many out there that reinforce the negative stereotypes.
Find communities that have large populations of people in your parent’s cohort. Getting a loved one moved into an environment where they have companionship again is often a significant motivator for many adult children looking for a new home for their parents. You want to make sure that community is healthy and filled with people your parents can easily relate to on a peer level.
It’s also important to look at the community’s food and dining options. A good active retirement community will even invite you to have a meal during a tour so you can get an accurate idea of the food quality before committing.
No one wants to go back to “school cafeteria” style meals sitting on fold out chairs or wooden benches.
When considering different communities, make sure to look through their schedule of activities. You can differentiate the “active” communities from the more traditional “retirement” communities based on the activities they regularly organize for residents. Are there lots of exercise opportunities? Are there community gatherings like BBQs and happy hours? Are there educational opportunities that allow residents to expand their minds?
Retirement can be a fulfilling experience where people grow intellectually and spiritually. A good active retirement community will embrace that opportunity.
What Makes Timberhill Villa One of the Good Ones
Timberhill Villa is all about making retirement safe, comfortable and pleasant. Features like our impressive library, elegant dining room, billiards room
and our beautiful outdoor spaces
make the environment welcoming and feel more like living in a bed and breakfast than a retirement home.
Each day of the week has exercise activities, games, events and other entertainment options in which residents can choose to participate. Each weekday there’s a Yoga or Fit for Life exercise class. We have regularly available vital checks as well as medical transportation to and from doctors’ appointments if residents want to make use of those services. Some specialists are also on the schedule to come in and check on residents and provide health guidance and advice.
Some of the other current weekday activities include:
- Bingo
- Arts and crafts
- Armchair astronomy
- Sewing, knitting and crochet groups
- Sing-a-longs
- Poker
- Wii bowling
- Bob’s Happy Hour with live music and poker
- Trivia challenges
- Dinners out and about
- BBQs
- Sunday brunch
- Shopping trips
- Nights at the movies with popcorn and sodas
- Hymn singing and worship services for multiple denominations
Under normal circumstances, our experienced staff and administrators maintain a balance between promoting health and safety and planning events and activities that appeal to all types of residents. Participation is optional but the goal is to offer every person something they enjoy and can bond and socialize with other residents over.
If you want to find out what life is like on Timberhill Villa’s 24-acre family-run retirement community, we encourage you to call (210) 684-3480 to schedule a tour or contact us through our website once the COVID-19 threat is over!
We are all getting used to watching re-runs of our favorite tv shows now that we are spending most of our time inside. Timberhill offers up a list of bingeworthy tv shows from the 60's. Enjoy!
It’s still possible to get face-to-face time with your loved one, even during coronavirus lockdowns in retirement communities.
There’s no one right way to do retirement. Just make sure you have a game plan before you take that big step towards freedom!
There’s a world of difference between an “assisted living” community and an “active retirement” community. Make sure you can explain the difference!
