Couples age differently, both mentally and physically, even if they are about the same age. This sometimes leads to one spouse becoming the caregiver of the other in their home.
Many couples prefer this arrangement, but there comes a time when providing the amount of care needed becomes unsustainable.
It’s common for one spouse to begin to experience caregiver burnout or fatigue, even leading them toward feeling guilt or resentment against their partner. For this primary caregiver, burnout can also lead to neglecting their own health and needs. As they age, they may need their own care and can no longer provide the right quality of care for their partner.
Luckily, assisted living communities such as The Kensington Reston happily accommodate couples with differing needs, allowing lifelong partners to age together in place in the same community.
When one partner requires memory care support and the other only needs assisted living support, you can rest assured knowing both spouses will get the unique care they require.
How Care is Provided for Couples with Differing Needs
One of the biggest concerns for couples moving into assisted living is determining if both spouses can be accommodated so they can still live together and have their differing care needs met.
For instance, one spouse may begin to experience memory loss from Alzheimer’s or dementia, while the other spouse only needs minor assistance. In this case, couples need to ensure an assisted living community can provide additional memory care if it becomes necessary.
Luckily, assisted living communities such as The Kensington Reston provide specialized memory care services. Memory care provides additional care, support, and supervision for residents who begin to need more help completing their daily activities.
The most important aspect of moving in together in an assisted living community is knowing that even if one spouse begins to need more care, couples can still preserve familiar routines and maintain favorite pastimes. Couples can dine together, see each other, participate in shared activities, and spend quality time together, no matter if their care needs are different.
The Benefits of Living at an Assisted Living Community
A couples’ main priority should be focusing on their health and well-being, without the distractions and burdens of everyday life getting in the way. Moving into an assisted living community offers them a beautiful, scenic environment where they can make new friends and share experiences together.
A community setting can take away the stress of providing daily care by the caregiver or caregiving spouse. This allows both spouses to spend more quality time together, whether it’s dining together in the community’s cafe, or participating in shared life enrichment activities.
Engaging in regular social activities can also stave off the effects of aging and Alzheimer’s, which means couples can live longer, healthier lives together.
Couples can also enjoy a hassle-free lifestyle living in a high-quality assisted living community. If a couple struggles to maintain their house and yard, moving into an assisted living community can be a nice option that allows them to more comfortably age in place.
Assisted living communities feature care from around-the-clock licensed nurses, a full event calendar of social outings and classes, as well as on-site rehabilitation services and other therapies.
What Couples Should Consider Before Moving into Assisted Living
Couples will want to see if they can move in together in the same shared suite. Some assisted living communities may only have floor plans or apartments available for single occupancy. Others may feature larger-style apartments or shared suites, allowing couples or multiple couples to move in together.
For couples who have pets, make sure your community allows for animals. Some communities may even have their own community pets on-site for all residents to interact with. Medical research has shown time and time again that companion pets improve the mental health and well-being of their owners. For animal lovers, this can be a dealbreaker, so be sure to ask about the pet policy.
Determining the Right Time to Move into Assisted Living Together
Couples and their children often face difficulties when it comes to moving out of the family home, especially when determining the costs of moving into a new community.
Children of aging adults often face pushback when suggesting their parents can benefit from moving into a new community. “We’re fine, we don’t need to move,” is a common response the aging parents might say. After all, you don’t want to push your parents out of their home before they’re ready.
But there are many benefits for couples when they move into a community. For the caregiving spouse, they can spend more time focusing on their own health, and the other spouse can get the professional and individualized care that they require so they can both age in place.
Oftentimes aging couples move into assisted living later than they should, which means they don’t get as much quality time together as they could have gotten.
If you’re the child of an aging parent and begin to notice a decline in either of your parent’s health, whether the caregiving spouse is fatigued, or a parent was recently in the hospital, then have a serious discussion with your parents on how moving together to the same community can give them both a better quality of life together.
The Kensington Promise
The Kensington Reston is an enhanced assisted living community that goes above and beyond what traditional assisted living communities can offer.
Our enhanced care model includes a full spectrum of clinical support. We employ a team of registered nurses who work around the clock and are capable of administering medications and injections.
We gladly accommodate couples within our community and can offer differing levels of care if one spouse needs memory care and the other needs assisted living care.
Our community also features two levels of memory care, which enables us to support seniors of beginning levels to advanced levels of memory loss. Both tiers are fully secured environments and provide 24-hour care that keeps residents safe and comfortable.
At The Kensington Reston, we extend Our Promise to you: to love and care for your family as we do our own. Do you want to learn more about our floor plans and accommodation for senior couples? Reach out to our friendly staff today to receive more information.