If your parent is getting ready to make a move to a senior living community or smaller residence, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all there is to do. From decluttering and packing to scheduling movers and selling their old home, adult children often have their hands full when helping their parents move. Sometimes, finding the right people to help can make a world of difference.
“Whenever an older adult is making a big move, it helps to know some experts,” says Alison Wall, Senior Living Consultant at TreVista Antioch, an assisted living and memory care community in Antioch, CA. “Senior Move Managers are experienced in the kinds of life transitions made by their senior clientele. Not only are they familiar with local senior living communities, but they understand the specific challenges older adults face when making a major life change.”
To ensure your parent experiences a smooth transition to their new home – and to help you and your family enjoy a less stressful move – consider how a Senior Move Manager can help you turn your worries into work completed.
What Exactly Is a Senior Move Manager?
A Senior Move Manager does more than just move a senior’s physical belongings from one residency to another. Senior Move Management is a specialized sector or organization and planning that facilitates all aspects of moving, from downsizing and professional packing to helping arrange furniture in a new space to make it feel like home.
According to the National Association of Senior Move Managers, many who work in this field come from backgrounds in social work, gerontology, psychology, nursing, healthcare, project management, technology, marketing and more. Senior Move Managers not only have the technical experience of facilitating lifestyle transitions, but they also have the emotional expertise to work well with the senior population and their families. They understand the difficulties involved in moving at a late stage in life, and they know how to make the process easier.
Senior Move Managers typically oversee all aspects of moving from beginning to end. However, because many families wish to be involved and do some of the work, many Senior Move Managers can customize their services to meet individual needs and budgets. Here’s a brief list of what Senior Move Managers can do:
- Organize and sort items for downsizing
- Create customized floor plans
- Make arrangements for getting rid of things through auction, estate sale, buy-out, consignment, donation, or a combination
- Schedule and oversee movers
- Supervise professional packing, shipments and storage
- Unpack belongings in a new home
- Help with cleaning, shopping or escorting senior clients
- Assist with choosing a realtor and help prepare the house to be sold
- Offer organizational skills to help seniors remain safely at home
Benefits of Working with a Senior Move Manager
Aside from the obvious benefits of having someone help you take care of all the tasks of moving, Senior Move Managers provide unique advantages for seniors and their families. Consider the following:
- Experience and Know-How – Senior Move Managers have unparalleled experience in working with the senior population. They understand trends in senior living and know about the best resources around for seniors during their move. They know who to call to get the best value of a service, saving money, reducing stress and making for a smooth transition.
- Accredited Providers – The NASMM offers accreditation to Senior Move Managers who meet high standards and criteria on ethics and expertise. Working with a NASMM-accredited Senior Move Manager ensures a quality working relationship with a professional who excels in their field. There’s no need to worry about scams or poor customer relations!
- You Control the Process – Senior Move Managers are there to help you accomplish everything you need. Managers work with you and your loved one to understand what needs to happen and how you’d like it done. For seniors who may feel some apprehension about moving into a supportive care setting, Senior Move Managers help them feel like they are in control of each part of the moving process – not just jostled from one home to the next.
- Creative Problem Solving – Whereas this may be your first time helping an older parent move, Senior Move Managers have done this hundreds of times! They’ve seen everything, so to speak, when it comes to senior lifestyle transitions. So, if unexpected hiccups occur during the process, they’ll have the experience to know how to solve problems quickly and efficiently.
- Helping the Whole Family – While you and your loved one have a say in how the move goes, Senior Move Managers can take away much of the stress of moving. They can handle the tedious tasks of packing and scheduling, making phone calls and arrangements with realtors, community staff members and other service providers you may be using. They’ll do all the heavy lifting!
- Compassion for Seniors – Senior Move Managers have a special passion for seniors and understand the emotional challenges that arise with a big move. They know that sorting out precious belongings for a smaller home can be painful. They understand that parents and adult children may have different opinions. They know that, most importantly, seniors want to be comfortable in a place where they feel like they belong. Many of the services that Senior Move Managers provide can help ease these tensions. For example, they can help arrange a new home to look and feel similar to the last, adding familiar touches that make a new place feel like home. Of course, such attention to detail means that they have gotten to know a senior on a personal level – something that’s hard to do without passion for their work and the people they serve!
A Senior Move Manager can help you and your aging parent experience a smoother, less stressful move. If you’d like to know more about helping your parent move to a smaller home or a senior living residence, contact TreVista Antioch today for friendly guidance and support!
Making the everyday extraordinary.
Family-owned and operated, Agemark Senior Living is the new owner of TreVista Antioch. Known for creating warm, welcoming communities, vibrant lifestyles and engaging programming, Agemark has been one of the most premier and trusted senior living providers since 1987. As Agemark’s newest community, TreVista Antioch is located on 10 acres in a prime location close to shopping and local attractions, as well as the great outdoors. Our beautiful community features a personalized, resident-centric approach to care that provides support, all while helping residents live full, connected lives.
At TreVista Antioch, we provide assisted living and memory care set in a beautiful environment that not only meets our residents’ needs but makes them, as well as their families, feel more at home. Although our gorgeous community is a plus, we truly believe it’s our programming and caring, dedicated staff that makes TreVista home. With our family-oriented inspiration and resident-centric approach, our residents flourish and experience days full of joy and meaning. Our staff learns each resident’s likes and dislikes and their values and pasts, right down to the dreams they never thought they could accomplish, in order to customize their care and make their dreams a reality.
LifeCycles wellness programming encourages our residents to connect, engage and enjoy life, every day. Our LifeCycles programming is designed to focus on the four dimensions of wellness: physical, social, spiritual and intellectual. This is achieved through a wide range of daily activities and routines, from outings and excursions to local events and programming at the community. At TreVista Antioch, our residents have the tools and care they need to make each day fulfilling, engaging and vibrant. Contact us to learn more!
Call us at 925•237•1952 for more information or to schedule a personal visit today.
TreVista Antioch is part of the Agemark family of senior living communities.
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