Schedule lawn service. Clean house. Meal plan. Grocery shop. Fix loose board on the stairs. Reset Alexa. Figure out why answering machine stopped taking messages. Drive to lunch with Jan and back. Go back out in car for hair appointment. Pick up mail. Pay cable bill.
Sound similar to your to do list?
Living on your own or with an aging loved one at home can make small tasks build up and be daunting. Consider exploring independent living as an alternative. Here are three things folks love about independent living.
Living Made Easy
The number-one reason many older adults opt to move from home to independent living is to simplify life. Maintenance-free perks of independent living include satellite TV, an emergency call system, housekeeping and utilities paid (aside from phone and internet). Additional services include meals and dining, onsite beauty shop, available transportation and assistance with activities of daily living (ADL). Independent living is living made easy.
Friendships with True Peers
The Mayo Clinic reports in Friendships: Enrich Your Life and Improve your Health, “Friends play a significant role in promoting your overall health. Adults with strong social connections have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI). In fact, studies have found that older adults who have meaningful relationships and social support are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections.”
The article goes on to suggest ways to connect with friends, like attending community events, taking up a new interest to connect with people who have similar interests or taking walks with people to whom you can relate. All three are much easier to do in an independent living environment where like-minded adults, age-appropriate activities and safe community walkways abound.
Finally, the article mentions that inclusion in a close-knit community of friends is one of the best ways to “help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one.” As we age, these traumas can be more prevalent in life. Friends in independent living can walk through them with you, guiding you with their experience and strength.
Easy Access to a Continuum of Care
“Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end,” writes Atul Gawande in Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. As we age, our health and safety needs change, sure, but so do our desires and hopes. Choosing independent living while you are still able opens a path to additional support and care as you age. And this freedom of knowing that you will be cared for through your golden years allows you to live life to the fullest every moment of those years.