Happy Friday trusty Babbling Brook readers. Did you know that tomorrow marks the close of National Assisted Living Week? Every year, since 1995, National Assisted Living Week has been celebrated from September 10th-16th. The week was established by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) as a time to celebrate, honor, and recognize assisted living programs, both their benefits and the compassionate care and service they provide. Willow Brook Christian Communities is proud to boast three assisted living locations, one at each campus: Willow Brook Christian Home, Willow Brook Christian Village, and Willow Brook at Delaware Run.
As a general rule, we can say that there are numerous benefits to assisted living. So without further ado, here are 5 top Reasons Why Assisted Living is Important:
As the Helen Keller quote states, “Alone, we can do so little, together we can do so much.” This is especially true for our residents in assisted living. As human beings we are social creatures –admittedly some more than others, but all humans crave that interaction with another. As we’ve touched on in pervious articles, loneliness is incredibly common among our older generations –many have lost spouses and friends– and often the transition to assisted living has been difficult for them; leaving a family home or feeling isolated from family. The community that assisted living provides can be life changing.
Just as some of us need more social interaction than others, some residents in assisted living need more care than others. While some residents may only need help with laundry, housekeeping, and medications, others may need assistance dressing, bathing, or need reminders to eat meals. The nice thing about assisted living, especially at Willow Brook, is the flexibility for that personalized care, based on the needs of the individual.
If you’ve been a longtime Babbling Brook subscriber, you may recall a blog post called The Sandwich Generation. This post discussed adults who are both raising or supporting their own children as well as caring for an aging parent – they are sandwiched between the two. For many adult children caregivers this can become too much. And when that happens, assisted living is an option that can provide a peace of mind to the family –knowing that your parent/s are being cared for by trained professional staff 24/7.
An amenity of assisted living facilities is that they have trained nursing staff onsite 24/7. Nurses manage and distribute medications to residents, relieving that strain from residents or family members. If a medical emergency should arise, our assisted living staff at Willow Brook are trained to know what to do and how to quickly respond.
Our aides are trained to assist with all manner of ADLs (activities of daily living), and other specialize staff handle laundry, housekeeping, transportation, activities, and keeping track of your medications. What does all of this add up to? A better quality of life! That means the freedom and ability to enjoy your retirement years to the best of your ability, and the reassurance that friends and family need: to know that you are cared for, happy, and thriving.
Happy National Assisted Living Week!
#TeamWillowBrook #ForwardTogether
