7 Tips for Moving Elderly Parents
Whether you’re relocating a senior loved one across the nation or to a local senior living facility, the process can be difficult. Many scenarios would necessitate relocating a senior parent from their own home, and their adult children will want to make sure the transition is as painless as possible, taking care of their feelings, health, money, and logistics.
These seven tips can make the difficult process of moving elderly parents a little bit easier, so let’s dive in.
1) Choice and Communication
Seniors can be emotionally attached to the house they’re leaving, and it’s natural for them to feel sad and anxious about the transition. Allowing your aging parent time to grieve the change and talking about where they will be living and why they are relocating will help make the move easier. When seniors are requested to leave their long-term residences, one of the most common sources of sadness is a sense of loss of control; moreover, give your loved one as much power as possible as they plan for the next chapter of their lives.
2) Plan Accordingly
It would be helpful for families to get a glimpse of what they are getting into before they begin the sorting and arranging process. What rooms at the new home do you need to furnish? What is the new house or apartment’s square footage? Start thinking ahead about what large furniture items are staying and what items will be going as that might be one of the more laborious tasks.
3) Recruit Relatives to Help
This will be a large undertaking, so solicit the assistance of your family. Encourage your siblings or other close relatives to take a few days off work. Even children and younger family members are welcome to join in (the more the merrier). Surrounding your elderly parents with encouraging loved ones may also help to reduce the emotional stress of relocation. The presence of loved ones and good energy around them will make them a little bit more comfortable during this transition.
4) Arrange and Categorize Belongings
Downsizing is usually required when relocating your elderly parents. With your support crew, go over the house item by item. Items to be moved, treasures to be left with family, items to be sold or donated, items to go into storage, and items to be thrown out can all be classified to make the process easier. Allowing yourself to become a packed robot devoid of feelings is not a good idea and so please allow your elderly parent to recollect while you assist them in sorting out their prized possessions, respecting their emotional tie to them. Remember, you’re not just transferring items; you’re moving precious memories. Also, especially if this was your childhood home, be receptive to your own feelings and nostalgia.
5) Use a Storage Unit
Once all the furniture and boxes are marked, labeled, and organized, then it might be a good idea to rent out a storage unit. If your time or help is limited, then a temporary storage unit may be a great solution for you because it enables you to have more time to go through everything later. Self-storage facilities like Garden of the Gods Self Storage in Colorado Springs come in handy during strenuous times like these and can sometimes be a life saver.
6) Clean and Repair the Household
There is still a lot of work to be done after the organizing and packing is completed. The general requirements are the same whether the residence is being sold, rented, or inherited. They should tidy the house and consider making any necessary repairs now, before they become worse. It’s preferable to deal with maintenance issues all at once rather than later while the house is on the market (or after renters move in). A good rule of thumb is to always leave a place better off then when you found it.
7) Plan the Move
Moving elderly parents into their new home can be done in a variety of ways. The most convenient, but also the most expensive, option is to hire a full-service mover. They’ll load everything, transport it to its destination, and set everything up. After comparing moving prices, we discovered that transporting the contents of a two-bedroom home across the nation costs more than an average of $6,000.
Families can save money on their move by employing a self-service mover, which means they load the moving truck themselves, but the cargo is transported by a professional mover. There’s also the do-it-yourself (DIY) option, which involves renting a moving truck or trailer. Even the do-it-yourself option of renting a U-Haul or Ryder truck isn’t cheap: a move from Florida to Colorado in a 26-foot truck might cost more than $3,000 if gas expenses are factored in.
This cost discussion leaves out the most valuable cargo of all: your loved ones. Most senior citizens have outgrown their road-trip days and are unlikely to enjoy a 30-hour cross-country drive. So, even if you decide to transport everything yourself, think about having your senior loved one fly to their location. If they have any medical problems, please first consult with their primary doctor or physician.
Of course, each family’s situation is different, so we’re cautious to offer general counsel — but we hope these pointers will help you plan and execute your senior loved one’s next steps into their life’s journey.