Do you have an elderly family member in your life and you’re worried about them living on their own? Maybe they have trouble using the stairs or making their dinner for themselves. 

Whatever it is, growing old comes along with many challenges, and it can be tough for friends and family to know what they need to do. That’s why assisted living is one of the best places for elderly family members!

If you’re on the fence about whether you should bring up assisted living to an elderly family member, we have your back. 

Be sure to keep reading for our guide to the five reasons your elderly family member could benefit from assisted living.

1. They Need a Community

Sometimes getting older means that you get more lonely. People stop calling, writing, or even visiting. It can also be harder for elderly people to go out and do their usual activities where they would socialize with friends and family. 

Assisted living facilities can help give elderly family members a sense of community.

When you move to an assisted living home, your family member won’t need to be stuck in their room all day. Instead, they will have the freedom to get out and meet with other people living in the same situation. They might find people interested in the same hobbies and be able to make new friends. 

Finding an assisted living home can help to make them feel less lonely. Feeling less lonely can help with depression and can even give them an overall sense of happiness. 

2. Not Eating Healthy Balanced Meals

We all know that we need to eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yet sometimes seniors can forget, or they don’t bother when they live alone. If you’ve noticed that an elderly family member is skipping meals or having trouble getting healthy foods, you might consider talking about assisted living. 

Your elderly family member needs to be safe at home. That means eating three balanced healthy meals. An assisted living facility will ensure that they’re eating enough and eating the right things. 

For some people, they might have relied on someone else their entire life to get their meals for them. If that person is now gone, it is going to be more difficult for them to come up with their own meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Chances are, they could even feel unmotivated to eat at these times. 

An assisted living facility will help to make sure that they’re well taken care of throughout their entire day. 

3. Escalating Needs

Family members are great for helping out the elderly, yet you also know when the needs begin to become too much. Are your elderly family member’s needs escalating beyond your physical capabilities? 

Many people will start to realize this when their family member has dementia. Their needs start escalating at a rapid pace. 

It could start with you helping them up the stairs. Next, you’re cooking them dinner, or you’re making sure they get out of bed in the morning. You need to decide when their needs are too much for you to handle. 

Chances are if it is causing you stress, it is more than you can handle. Make sure that you’re considering your own mental health when caring for your elderly family members. 

4. They Don’t Drive Anymore

If your elderly family member is still driving, make sure that they’re doing it safely.

Many elders get to a point where they choose not to drive on their own. If this is the case, you may want to help them consider public transportation. 

For a lot of seniors, none of these options are accessible as it might cause them too much stress or other factors. That is when assisted living is the best option. 

Assisted living can help seniors get from place to place in an accessible and easy way. Depending on their facility, they might ride with other seniors or alone. 

They will get a ride to the grocery store, doctor’s appointments, and other places that they need to go! This form of transportation is much more accessible because it is only for seniors. 

It can also help to give them some independence because they won’t need to rely on friends or family to take them from place to place. 

5. Not Keeping up With Household Chores

One of the benefits of an elderly family member still living on their own is that they need to make sure they’re staying on top of household chores. Yet, if you go to their house and repeatedly see a sink full of dishes, dirty laundry, or other clutter, this could be a sign that they can’t do it on their own. 

Sitting down and having a talk with them about their household chores is essential. Sometimes people have lazy days, yet it could be that they aren’t physically capable of getting everything done around the house. 

For some elderly family members, these chores can be too much physical labor for their bodies to handle. If it involved bending over or walking up and down the stairs, they might not be motivated to get things done. 

An assisted living facility can help them with any household chores that they would need to get done. That way, they wouldn’t need to worry about dishes building up or not having clean laundry. 

Talking About Assisted Living

Once you’ve decided to talk to your elderly family member about assisted living, make sure to do so in a positive way. After all, this could be a big life change for them, but it’s a good one too. 

If you’re able to use our reasons and talk with them about it, they might start to see your side of things. 

Are you looking for one of the best places to go for assisted living in Washington DC? We have you covered! You can even take a digital tour or schedule a walk-in one today and check out our facilities.