Many think that the time to start looking for assisted living options is when your health or lifestyle make it necessary. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
When a person needs an assisted living environment unexpectedly, they are often faced with a number of concerns. Are there facilities available? Is there space at a desirable location? Is it cost-prohibitive?
Sometimes in this situation, you don’t have the advantage of choosing an assisted living apartment. Instead, based on what’s available and when, assisted living chooses you.
Get ahead of the curve and plan for your future – whatever it holds – by choosing a continuing care community. Let’s look at four advantages of making the move before you need it.
Priority Access
When you choose to move to a continuing care community like The GreenFields, you gain more than a new home – you gain a home that adapts with you and your needs. As a resident, you have priority access to the different levels of care available, meaning that if you require assisted living, memory care or rehabilitative care, you’ll be able to easily make the transition on campus to have your needs met. This is an incredible advantage versus other retirement living choices, where often you need to seek another specialized facility for assisted or advanced care needs. Instead, your care options scale with your needs at a continuing care community, allowing you flexibility in your lifestyle.
Community Living
Another advantage of choosing a community residence is right there in the name – community. Living in a community provides residents with a built-in social network of other residents – new friends and companions in the making. Whether it’s enjoying on-campus amenities or meals, taking walks on the grounds, or making trips out for dinner or shopping, new friends are just steps away and will continue to be there as your needs change.
Comfort and Familiarity
By moving to a continuing care community before you have a demand for assisted living or rehabilitation services, you also gain the benefit of being comfortable and familiar with the campus. Many people move from a residential living setting to assisted living apartments when they need more assistance, meaning that they are already in a situation where they face reduced mobility or other difficulties with their daily activities. This can combine in an unfamiliar setting to exacerbate these concerns or lead to individuals being too cautious or worried to enjoy life fully. If you are already a member of the community before needing additional services, however, you can continue to enjoy your lifestyle and benefit from the extra attention and care needed on a short- or long-term basis.
Proactive Benefits
Finally, living in a retirement community can also help to improve overall health and well-being for residents. Living in a community setting like the residences at GreenField Manor provides access to a range of activities and social programs, including exercise classes, University Express – continuing education courses – social musical programs and community volunteering efforts and much more. Through these programs, you can stay active – both in body and mind – which studies have shown can help keep you in good health and good spirits in your retirement.
Take a Look Around
It’s perfectly natural to approach a change in living with a sense of caution, which is why we open our doors all the time to show prospective residents what they can expect when they move to The GreenFields. Plan a trip to visit the campus and see the residential living and assisted living apartments for yourself, and explore what life is like for residents at our continuing care community. Call us at 716-684-8400 to schedule a visit.
