What Should You Consider When Choosing a Retirement Home?

What Should You Consider When Choosing a Retirement Home?

• TribecaCare
• 24th Feb 2025

Involve the Senior Person in the Decision

It is difficult and heart-breaking to think of leaving the home where you have lived for most of your life. If you are responsible for taking this decision yourself as a senior person, then you need to take time to evaluate your needs. If you are a child who has to look for a retirement home for your parent, unless he or she is incapacitated and cannot take decisions – they must be involved in the entire process and given the freedom of choice. It is necessary to handle the process with sympathy and sensitivity. No senior person should feel pushed into a home for senior citizens which is not to their liking.

Meet Residents from Different Senior Citizens’ Homes to Know About their Experience

No brochure or advertisement will give you the same confidence about which Retirement Home to choose than speaking with a resident who is actually living there. He or she will give you a personal insight of their experience along with an idea of the care, comfort and amenities available. A meeting with such a resident or even a group of residents will also give you an idea about the kind of people with whom you will be living at the Senior Living facility which you are evaluating.

Basic Criteria for Choosing a Retirement Home

• The location should be within the same city or offering a similar environment to the home where you have always lived.
• Shopping centres, theatres and restaurants should be accessible and the senior living facility should have transport arrangements.
• Residents of the home should be like-minded and preferably of a similar socio-economic group, or even from the same community.
• The accommodation should be spacious and comfortable and designed with senior safety and mobility in mind.
• The premises should be attractive, clean and well-maintained.
• The Retirement Home should have established credentials with a rating agency on health, hygiene and care-giving .
• There should be entertainment and exercise options – gyms, walking paths, yoga classes, library, TV room.
• There should be medical staff-on-call, 24/7
• Residents should have the option of hiring personal Care-givers and Attendants if required.
• There should be tie-ups with and access to reputed hospitals with emergency response facilities and an ambulance on-site.
• Guest house facilities should be available when family and children are visiting, especially if the Retirement Home is situated a little outside the city.
• There should be critical care and hospital-like- arrangements for elders who need special care – Chemotherapy, Dialysis, Dementia, Parkinson’s.

Check the Category, Cost and Paperwork

There can be two kinds of Retirement Homes: independent and assisted living. The former includes housing units designed with seniors in mind, while assisted living features round the clock care and is more suitable for older seniors or those with ailments. There are attendants present to assist residents with tasks such as eating and getting around.

Some real estate developers have residential projects aimed specifically at senior citizens. These are usually typically equipped with facilities like health centres, specialised kitchens, gyms and recreational spaces. Some even have doctors, therapists and dieticians on site.

Costs can vary widely: some are in crores and offer luxurious accommodation. Others are more reasonably priced, with more basic amenities. It is important to study the terms and conditions and contract carefully.

It is also important to go through the fine print, preferably with your lawyer. Some Retirement Homes may claim to provide medical attention during emergencies, but do not specify what their role or responsibility is towards the resident at that point in time. Others may have hidden charges or clauses that don’t allow you to resell a unit you own, or rules that curb your independence as a resident. Among the options worth considering are:

• Renting
• Buying
• Lifetime Lease Option

Making Sure that Your Move to a Retirement Home is a Happy Experience

• Take expert advice from lawyers and friends.
• Compare and analyze different Retirement Homes from websites and brochures.
• Go on site visits and rate your experience of the trip with the Retirement Home’s Customer Relationship Management.