Making Smart Moves: How To Move Your Senior Parent

Moving your senior parent is a unique challenge for both the senior and your family. In fact, it might be the most significant move a senior adult will ever make.

Those thoughts are from Shelby Reed, Downsizing Specialist with Core Experience, an organization that works with Bethesda’s Moving With Ease program to help transition seniors from their homes to Bethesda’s independent living retirement communities.

“Moving from a home you may have lived in for decades to a new environment is emotionally intense,” Shelby says. “Chances are the independent living retirement apartment will be smaller than the senior’s current home. This, therefore, requires some difficult decisions concerning what to take and what to leave with others or dispose of.”

What To Consider Before Moving Your Senior Parent

Because you are moving memories and moments in the hearts and minds of your parent as well as his or her possessions, the first thing to do is discuss the transition with your parent and other family members. The discussion participants should recognize the possibility of the parents’ reluctance in leaving (if that is the case), as well as the positive benefits of going to an independent living retirement community.

Here’s a list of items to consider before making the move:

• Working with a financial advisor concerning benefits and costs
• Employing a real estate agent
• Obtaining an appraisal of the home’s value
• Learning the market values of homes in the community
• Weighing possible repairs and renovations
• Deciding the final disposition of treasures in the home
• Planning for the space available in the new home
• Sorting, categorizing, and packing for the move
• Determining a move date well in advance
• Securing a moving company
• Enlisting family members and friends to help
• Monitoring Mom or Dad’s reactions
• Overseeing the unloading and placing of items in the new home

Using a “Moving With Ease” Program

Consider if the independent living retirement community you’re thinking about for Mom or Dad has a “Moving With Ease” program like Bethesda’s—a partnership with Core Experience provides a local network of resources and professionals specializing in moves for senior adults. Our comprehensive package of services include the following:

• Move consultation and planning
• Real estate services like pricing and selling your home
• Downsizing, organizing, selling and donating unwanted items
• Floor plan layout, measurements and furniture arrangement in your new home
• Packing and unpacking

Working with Core Experience, Bethesda’s “Moving With Ease” program is a one-stop shop solution that offers assistance with all aspects of a move. “We handle and manage all of the details from the time the transition is first contemplated until the move into the new independent living home is complete,” Shelby says.

The elimination of the stress, confusion, and planning required for the move, and the comprehensive level of services Core Experience provides, can be a tremendous benefit to your senior loved one—and you.

For more information about moving your senior parent, contact a Bethesda independent living community near you!