The holidays often highlight the need for assisted living for aging loved ones. Family members, spending increased time with their parents, may realize they require more support than they themselves can provide. This realization can be overwhelming and can prompt the need to move fast. However, where do you start and what do you look for?
Brightview Senior Living has three locations in our area, and to ease the process, they provide help on what to consider when the time comes to seek either independent living, assisted living or memory care communities for your loved ones in need.
1. Understanding How Assisted Living Can Help
Assisted living is designed to support a resident with their activities of daily living such as bathing, grooming, taking medications, etc., while also giving them all the independence they want. At Brightview, residents take advantage of worry-free living. From a variety of apartment sizes and styles, they have access to chef-prepared meals, transportation, outings, cultural events, housekeeping, maintenance, taxes, utilities, Wi-Fi, safety and security, dedicated staff on duty 24/7, wellness checks, and daily social happy hours.
2. Tour a Prospective Senior Living Community
It’s important to visit the community not only to ask questions but also to get a feel for the team and overall vibe. Ask the staff about emergency response systems and other features that will keep your loved one safe in their new home and community. Know the cost—ask for a breakdown of what’s covered in the monthly rent and compare it to your loved one’s current monthly expenses. As for meals, ask if they are chef-prepared and be sure your loved one’s dietary preferences and requirements are being met.
3. Prepare for the Transition of Senior Living
When residents first arrive at Brightview, they and their families submit a life story that helps the associates to provide them with their favorite activities and meals as well as introduce them to friends who may have common interests. Being surrounded by friends helps new residents decide how they want to fill their activity calendars. At Brightview, where engagement and vibrancy are always the focus, this can include off-site excursions as well as the myriad of on-site activities.
4. Build a team
No one has to face this next chapter of their lives alone, and those who call a community home should feel like their voices matter. Brightview relies on input from family members, friends and the residents themselves to design the life they want within their community. Input for such things as the types of food served to the trips taken are more than welcome. Brightview believes in a strong team of not only informed associates, but friends, residents and family members as well.
Brightview really stands above other assisted living communities in the quality of the staff they employ. Knowledgeable, dedicated to the well-being of residents and overflowing with compassion, their kindness and friendliness help make it a real community. And that attitude holds for every department, not just those directly interacting with residents: food service, housekeeping, activities,health/wellness/nursing and the on-site physical therapist, as well as facilities/operations, business office, sales, concierge and miscellaneous management and staff members who all create that unique, pervasive community atmosphere.
5. Know You're Making a Wise Decision
Making the transition from your own home to an independent or assisted living community can feel overwhelming at first. Many of our residents share they were nervous about the change, but time and again, we hear the same sentiment: “I should have done this sooner.”
While adjusting to a new space may take time, the peace of mind that comes from no longer living alone and having the support you need is priceless. At Brightview, feelings of isolation fade, and our residents discover what it means to truly belong—to feel safe, supported, and part of a loving community.
Brightview Senior Living
Greentree/Marlton
(856) 910-0070
BrighviewGreentree.com
Mount Laurel
(856) 222-1213
BrightviewMtLaurel.com
Woodbury Lake
(856) 272-3156
BrightviewWoodburyLake.com
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Published and copyrighted in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 21, Issue 9 (December 2024)
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