So there still exists a battle of senior independence against their need for assistance. A senior won’t readily accept that he or she is in need of assistance whether the reasons are quite obvious. If caregivers would have it their way, the decision would be unanimous; it’s the nursing home or the highway! But seniors see nursing homes as stripping them off of their dignity and your not being able to understand that what you are trying to make them accept is that they no longer have the ability to look after themselves. For me, this is only a matter of not communicating properly, unfortunately, most seniors and caregivers do have communication problems to begin with.
So meeting halfway means the senior should be able to move in accordance to their own will but at the same time, have someone look after them from afar. The tricky part is, if you, as the caregiver, pose as the “other person looking from afar”, your senior won’t like it and it will feel like you’re hovering but if you get someone to look after them and pay them, your senior won’t like it either because it will feel like they badly needed help, so what else is there to do? Room them with someone their age, as if they are off to college!
Shared housing is exactly that and more. This is very ideal for seniors living alone and with rooms to spare. Also, it will ease the pressure of having your senior moved in an assistive facility or even to your own home, especially if they don’t really need too much assistance – that is, if they can still move around on their own. In a shared housing setting, a senior is paired with another senior so they will both feel independent but still be looking after one another.
Shared housing is when two unrelated people decide to live under one roof. That means, they are not family nor lovers, they are just two seniors who happen to need someone to share house with. Ideally, they should have their own rooms but all other parts of the house could be shared. However, it is expected for them to share responsibilities with regard to the home as well as decisions over matters of bills and extra services the other person might need.
Shared housing can work to your advantage since it can dramatically reduce your housing cost by half. Also, a senior can continue to enjoy their independence and still benefit from having a housemate in case you need help. Then there’s security of course since it is much safer to live with someone than to live alone. Best of all, you’ll have someone to talk to and your family will have someone to call if they can’t reach you so basically, it works both ways.
If you are interested with shared housing, whether you are the house owner or house seeker, check out organizations specializing in senior living and care as they sometimes do house matching.
