Making the decision to move your loved one into assisted living is one that raises questions about how to close down a household that has been established for years. The idea can be especially challenging for a loved one who has become used to a certain level of independence for years. While many different items must be moved out of the home, the good news is storage can help make your loved one’s transition into assisted living a smoother one.   

If you are in the process of transitioning your relative into assisted living, consider a couple of ways  storage can help make the transition a little smoother.

Check With Your Loved One
While the decision to transition a loved one into assisted living usually means that he or she needs additional help with the tasks of everyday living, each facility is different, with different degrees of need. Depending on how much independence your loved one’s assisted living facility provides, check with your loved one and find out what he or she would like you to do with the items that remain in the home they are moving out of. By having some guidance and direction on what to store, sell or give away, that will help to ease your questions as to where items should go.

For the items that will be stored, consider storage options that will provide you with the storage coverage you need. Consider sharing the storage options with your loved one, so that he or she will be a part of the process, but also still feel a sense of ownership.

Maintain Ownership
Losing a sense of individual ownership and independence can be one of the most difficult adjustments for your loved one upon moving into an assisted living facility. It can be hard to know which items to keep or give away. To help make the process easier, alleviate some of the stress your loved one feels and consider storage.

Storage will provide your loved one with the opportunity to keep and maintain ownership of various belongings and you can make sure the items are stored properly, as well as check on them as needed. This is a great way to provide encouragement and independence to your loved one and let him or her know that they still have ownership over their belongings while they are in assisted living.

Save Space
Moving your loved one into assisted living means that you will need to make decisions about what belongings will be kept, and what belongings will be stored. If you have enough room within your home to store items, that will help, yet it can reduce the amount of functional living space you have. To help avoid clutter, try getting a storage unit so you can store your loved ones items from their household in a secure and protected environment. Since storage units offer climate controlled protection, you will ensure that any items you store will be able to weather both warm and cold temperature changes. 

If you are closing down an entire household, consider storing your loved ones items to give you time to properly decide what you want to do with each item. For example, there may be items of special sentimental value that mean something to the entire family generationally and for future generations. Items like that should be cherished, but if they are too large to store within your home, place them in secured storage so that you protect them.

Hopefully, these ideas will provide you with help as you prepare to transition your loved one to assisted living. For more storage tips, visit our Storage page or check out our Blog. You will find a variety of helpful information geared towards space saving solutions.