Long-term care facilities, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, don’t always have the best reputation. Many people stress over choosing the right facility for a loved one because they don’t want to put them in a negative environment. Average care facilities are known to serve bland food and often feel more like a hospital than a home.
Apprehension is understandable. It’s hard to make a choice when you don’t know exactly how your loved one will be treated. However, that choice becomes easy when you look into luxury assisted living environments.
Luxury assisted living facilities are different than the state-run facilities. They’re often created and run by people who are wholly committed to providing gold standard support to elderly residents. They see where state-run facilities lack and create an entirely new model.
If you have to place a loved one into an assisted living facility, here are several reasons to choose a luxury facility.
1. Luxury assisted living feels more like home
When older people move into an assisted living facility, they thrive when it feels like home. Of course, it won’t feel like the home they’ve lived in all their life, but in the right facility they can create a new feeling of home.
Creating a feeling of home is critical to a person’s wellbeing. Home really is where the heart is, but also, we create that feeling when we’re in an environment that makes us feel secure and comfortable.
To quote William S. Sax, “People and the places where they reside are engaged in a continuing set of exchanges; they have determinate, mutual effects upon each other because they are part of a single, interactive system.”
In other words, “home” is a co-creation between heart and physical location. Luxury assisted living facilitates that creation.
2. Staff spend personal time with residents
State facilities have many wonderful staff members, but their budgets are low, they’re usually short-staffed, and the staff members don’t have much time to spend with residents. Meals are often rushed, and quality time is non-existent.
On the other hand, luxury facilities are staffed with enough team members to handle daily tasks like distributing medication and meals and provide exceptional care and companionship.
3. Shared meals feel like real meals
Sharing a meal at a state-run facility feels more like being served hospital food on a hospital tray. Residents can take their meals out to common areas to eat together, but it still doesn’t feel like the kind of meal you’d have at home.
Luxury assisted living facilities provide the space for the kind of home cooked meals you’d expect to have with friends and family. Usually, the dining tables look and feel more inviting as opposed to the folding tables that make you feel like you’re in a high school cafeteria.
4. The environment is generally more positive
A positive environment is equally important as good food and proper care. A negative or depressing environment can cause elderly people to become depressed and suicidal. What makes an environment depressing is usually the feeling of being in a medical facility combined with little to no true human connection.
Statistics show that 65% of people who move into a nursing home pass away in less than a year. While many people move into a facility toward the end of their life, that’s not always the case. Many residents would have thrived in a more positive environment.
In a luxury assisted living facility, the environment is much more positive, and residents get the human interaction they need to thrive.
5. Luxury assisted living facilities are cleaner
Cleanliness is perhaps one of the greatest benefits to placing a loved one in a luxury assisted living facility. Having a clean facility is extremely important to maintain hygiene and keep residents healthy, especially during cold and flu season.
Luxury facilities don’t skimp on the cost of regular cleaning; they want their residents to enjoy their living space as if it were their own home — without having to do the work.
Luxury assisted living is the best option for your loved one
Don’t risk the unknown by placing your loved one into a state-run facility. Find a luxury assisted living facility near you and give your loved one the opportunity to spend the rest of their days in a positive, supportive environment.
