Nearly 3.5 million seniors are currently living in Pennsylvania.
With a growing senior population, there’s a clear need for quality senior living communities. These communities allow our aging loved ones to enjoy a low-maintenance lifestyle with all the amenities and social activities they’d ever need under one roof.
To find senior living in Phoenixville, PA, you’ll need to know what to look for. The greater Philadelphia region has dozens of senior homes, but not all provide the same types or quality of care.
In today’s post, we’ll help you identify your loved one’s care needs and tell you what to consider in your search for Phoenixville senior care. Keep reading, and you’ll find the perfect community for your loved one to spend their golden years.
Perform an Elder Care Needs Assessment
You can’t start looking for a senior living community for your loved one without first understanding what kind of care they require. There are a few different types of senior care, so you have to be able to match your loved one’s needs with the services on offer.
For healthy seniors who want to downsize things and live a simple life among their peers, you’ll want independent living in Phoenixville. These communities create a welcoming environment that enhances the social lives of residents while giving them in-house dining, amenities, and activities.
If your loved one is struggling with age-related health issues, they’ll be better suited for assisted living in Phoenixville. Assisted living communities have staff available 24/7 to help residents deal with their unique health issues. At the same time, they’ll have access to similar perks that independent living residents get.
Those dealing with cognitive decline – Alzheimer’s and dementia affect 400,000 Pennsylvanians – will need memory care. This is a service offered through some – but not all – assisted living communities. Residents receive specialized care plans from highly trained staff who are equipped to deal with the unique challenges of Alzheimer’s.
Look at Reviews and Testimonials
Once you’ve determined the level of care your loved one needs, you can truly begin your search. Type “senior living in Phoenixville PA” into Google and you’ll have all of the local options. From there, you can use ratings and reviews to separate the good from the bad.
No one can tell you more about a community than people who have experienced it. If there are any red flags about quality of care or relations between staff and residents, you’ll find out in the reviews. Choose a few of the top-rated communities and schedule tours to see them in person.
Choose a Location
While you’re narrowing down your search, consider location. The location of your loved one’s community is important for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, what your loved one wants out of their senior care community will help you select a location. If they’re outgoing and want to enjoy local restaurants and shops, you’ll look for a community in a population center. Those who are on a budget and don’t need local amenities will be more flexible with location.
What’s more important when selecting a location is the transition into care. If your loved one is feeling overwhelmed by the process of moving into senior care, choose a centrally located community. This way, friends and family can visit, which will ease the transition during the first few weeks and months.
Consider Accommodations and Amenities
In touring senior apartments in Phoenixville, you’ll want to pay close attention to the accommodations and community amenities. Good communities will have a few different floor plans for residents to choose from based on their needs and budget.
The apartments should be equipped with modern amenities – a television, kitchen appliances, etc. They should also bring a sense of comfort and homeliness to your loved one.
The best communities will provide a diverse set of amenities that appeal to the range of personality types you’ll find in senior care. At Spring Mill, for example, we give our residents countless amenities, including:
- A fitness center
- A cafe and lounge
- Spacious common areas
- An arts and crafts room
- Outdoor patios and courtyards
- Game areas
- A library and media room
- The Discovery Silver Cinema
Activities for Health and Wellness
A community’s daily activity calendar says a lot about how it views senior health and wellness. Seniors need about 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week to avoid things like osteoporosis and unnecessary weight gain. There should be daily activities on the calendar to promote physical fitness.
At the same time, seniors sometimes need encouragement to socialize with their peers. The community should host events and activities that make it easy for residents to build lasting social connections with their fellow seniors.
These relationships are integral in decreasing the risk of social isolation. 34% of people between the ages of 50 and 80 experience some form of isolation, which leads to feelings of anxiety and depression.
Nutrition and Dining
On top of physical fitness and mental wellness, seniors need structure when it comes to dining. Good nutrition is essential for helping seniors lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Not all seniors can motivate themselves to cook decent meals that fulfill their nutritional needs.
In our community, they’ll have access to our Sensations dining program. This gives them a rotating menu of tasty and healthy meals, three times per day. In between meals, they’ll also have our in-house cafe to enjoy coffee, tea, and snacks.
Under our care, you’ll never have to worry about your loved one’s nutrition. A healthy lifestyle is a priority for all residents of Spring Mill.
Choose the Best Senior Living in Phoenixville, PA
Now that you know what to look for in a quality senior living community, you can find your loved one the long-term living situation they deserve. The best senior living in Phoenixville, PA, is always going to come from Spring Mill by Discovery Senior Living.
Our community is equipped with incredible staff, as well as the nationally recognized SHINE® memory care program. We offer countless in-suite and community amenities and activity programming that our residents love. To book your tour of our community with your loved one, contact us today.