Seniors make up just over a quarter of Indiana’s population, making senior living communities integral to the state’s housing landscape.
If you’ve got a loved one who has been dealing with the evolving effects of aging, they may benefit from senior care. These communities are in place to help make the transition into old age simpler and less stressful for seniors, but only when you choose the right one.
In today’s post, we’ll explain what to look for in an assisted living community in Indianapolis. When you find the perfect community for your loved one’s needs, they can get the most out of senior care. There are many Indianapolis senior living options, but keep reading, and we’ll help you separate the best from the rest.
Senior Care Options Available
Before you can truly choosing an assisted living community, you need to decide what type of care your loved one needs. There are a few different senior car options and choosing the right one will maximize their experience in their community.
Independent Senior Living
The simplest form of senior care is an independent senior living community. This is best for healthy seniors who want to enjoy a lower-maintenance lifestyle among their peers.
They’ll live in an apartment setting, but great emphasis is put on the community aspect of senior living. Each day will be full of fun and exciting activities for residents to participate in, all of which are geared toward socialization, fitness, and cognitive health.
Assisted Living Communities
Assisted living communities have more intensive care regimens. They’re best for seniors who are starting to deal with the adverse health effects of aging.
The communities have staff on-site 24/7 to help residents with whatever they need – bathing, taking meds, getting dressed, etc. Although the care aspect is far more prevalent in assisted living, residents still enjoy a daily activity calendar, in-house dining, and various community-wide amenities.
Memory Care Services
If your loved one is among the 7 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia, they’ll need memory care services. These are offered through specific assisted living communities but have specialized care from highly trained professionals.
Each day in memory care is treated as unique for residents. Staff understand how to manage the challenging and evolving symptoms that cognitive decline produces. Every effort is made to ensure your loved one is happy and comfortable day in and day out.
What to Look for in Senior Care
Choosing the right type of care is the most important step in the senior community selection process. From there, you’ll need to separate the top communities from the rest using a variety of factors. Here are a few of the most important things to consider:
Strong Reputation
When searching for assisted living communities, the first thing to do is to look online. Searching for “best assisted living in Indianapolis” will give you all of the local options. From there, you need to look at ratings and reviews to find the best communities.
Nobody can tell you more about a senior care community than the loved ones of current and former residents. Use the reviews to find red flags about certain communities that eliminate them from contention. Choose 3 of the top options and schedule tours so your loved one can see them in person.
Qualified Staff
When taking assisted living tours, you’ll want to observe how staff members operate with residents. Staff training is incredibly important, especially when you’re dealing with 24/7 assisted living and memory care. They should be competent, but also compassionate and patient with residents.
Don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions about staff and their qualifications. The more you know about the people caring for your loved one, the more comfortable the transition will be for everyone involved.
Room Options
You’ll also want to look at the room options. There’s a big emphasis on community in senior living, but independence is important too. Your loved one will spend a lot of time in their apartment, so the rooms must be big enough with the right amenities.
Daily Activities
The health and wellness of residents should be a major priority for the community you choose. You can get a sense of this by looking at the community’s daily activity calendar.
Daily activities should be geared toward the physical, emotional, and cognitive health of residents. Seniors need 150 minutes of exercise per week to maintain their vitality and improve their overall health. Daily activities should include plenty of things that prioritize fitness.
At the same time, activities should prioritize residents’ social lives. Social isolation is a major concern among senior populations. Activities can promote social engagement between residents so that they can create lasting friendships while in the community.
Assisted Living Amenities
Every community offers unique amenities for residents. Some have well-kept outdoor areas, while others prioritize in-house amenities, like fitness centers and entertainment rooms.
Often, the amenities a community has can be a deciding factor in which one your loved one chooses. During a senior living tour, make sure you see all of the amenities that a community has to offer so you can make an informed decision.
In-House Dining
Nutrition is the other major component of healthy aging. Seniors need a balanced diet full of vitamins and nutrients to stave off things like diabetes, osteoporosis, and other illnesses. It becomes more and more difficult to motivate oneself to cook in old age.
Fortunately, great communities make it so residents don’t need to cook if they don’t feel equipped to. The in-house restaurant offers a rotating menu of delicious and nutritious meals for residents to enjoy each day.
Choose the Best Assisted Living Community in Indianapolis
By using these factors, you’ll be able to choose the best assisted living community in Indianapolis. The transition into senior care doesn’t have to be an overwhelming or negative experience. When you put the work into finding the right community, your loved one can hit the ground running.
Rittenhouse Village at Northside is Indianapolis’ top assisted living and memory care community. We offer state-of-the-art amenities and a daily activity calendar to keep your loved one happy and occupied. Schedule a tour today to see our offerings for yourself.
