Planning a Senior Move

Although most seniors will tell you that they want to remain intheir own home forever, it is not always possible for an elderly person to stay safely at home. Sometimes moving to another residence is the only good option for an elderly person. Expert caregivers who have gone through the process of moving an aging parent have some very useful tips to offer.

The most successful senior moves came about because there was a good advance plan. Family members helped their seniors make as many decisions as possible well in advance, and they were prepared for strong emotions throughout the process as well as on moving day. Their most common advice is to move as methodically as you can through the process:

1. Know everything you can about the space where your senior will live. Whether it's to your home or to a senior residence, take your tape measure and draw a detailed floor plan of the room or apartment. Use a good sized piece of graph paper and include closets, doors and windows, and electrical outlets. You'll use this floor plan to "place" the furniture before you move it, so you'll know in advance what will fit (and what won't) and where things will go.

2. Start sorting as early as you can, but don't be surprised if your parent doesn't seem to be making progress as fast as you'd like. Sorting through a lifetime of treasures can be heartwrenching. As tempting as it may be to just take over, ask permission before putting anything in the discard pile. As much as time allows, let your parent talk about the memories each item will resurrect.

Consider renting a storage unit if your parent is not ready to let some treasures go and they won't fit in the new location. You may find that the monthly fee is well worth it when the alternative is a devastated parent. You can sort through the stored items later, when emotions are not as high.

3. Using another piece of your graph paper, make cut-outs to scale of the furniture that your senior will be taking. You can use these cutouts to "arrange" the furniture on your floor plan. When you have an arrangement that you think will work, tape your cutouts to the floor plan and make several copies. You'll give a copy of this plan to the movers so they know more or less where things should go in the new home.

4. Be sure to set up telephone and cable service to start a day or two before the planned move-in. That way, if the utility installation date slips, your parent will still have a working phone and television on arrival.

5. If your senior is moving locally, make sure the new residence is stocked with ice, something to drink, and several favorite snacks in the refrigerator or in a cooler you bring with you on moving day.

6. On moving day your parent will probably not be willing to leave while treasures are being loaded on the moving truck. If the move is local, try to give the movers an hour or so at the new place to begin putting the furniture in place before you arrive with your senior. Send a friend or a relative to supervise while you take your parent to lunch after the truck pulls out. When you arrive at the new place, there should at least be a comfortable chair where your parent can sit while supervising the rest of the unloading.

7. If the move is long-distance, there will be a day or two, or even as much as a week, between the time the moving van is loaded and when it reaches its destination. Plan for the van to arrive later than scheduled. If possible, have a friend or relative waiting for the moving van at the new residence. This person can call you when the van arrives so that your parent will not be waiting for hours in an empty room.

8. Even if there is care staff in the new residence, make certain that the bed is made up, the towels are hung, and the toiletries are unpacked and put away in the bathroom before you leave. Your parent will probably be exhausted and may be too shy to ask for help.

Keep these tips in mind and your senior's moving day may not be quite as traumatic as you feared.