Goodbye Nursing Homes The New Trend Is CoHousing With Friends

Sep 18, 2018 by apost team

Forget stuffy retirement homes that smell like medication and old age

Goodbye Nursing Homes! The New Trend Is CoHousing With Friends

Forget stuffy retirement homes that smell like medication and old age. Nursing homes are no longer the trend when it comes to senior care. More and more people are looking at cohousing options with friends. This improves people’s quality of life, is cost efficient and has less risk. Families no longer have to worry about which nursing home to choose. Instead, there are spaces where seniors can connect and live a full life, even in their later years. The following includes all you need to know about the new cohousing trend for senior living.

The Basics of Senior Cohousing

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A cohousing community is a place where seniors have their own space with friends. Basically, think about it like a college dorm of best friends, but for seniors. Amenities include a shared living room, fitness space, library, garden and more. It gives seniors a chance to build their own space in a unique environment. They do not have to live with strangers or have a roommate, but they still have a social life nearby. Such communities were first developed in the 1960s in Denmark and started to pop up in the United States in the late 1980s. As the baby boomer generation grows older and needs housing, the cohousing trend has developed in recent years. People do not want to move in to nursing homes or have roommates they do not know. Instead, they want to find a middle ground for when they grow older. Seniors can move in with existing friends or have control over which new people can enter the space. Nurses or healthcare professionals may visit the space, but the seniors have control over their community.

Quality of Life

Traditional nursing homes can feel like a hospital. Seniors face a host of mental health challenges like depression when they live in a sterile environment without their loved ones. There is a stigma attached to such places that this is where people waste away before they die. Cohousing is popular because seniors have more control over the community and it does not feel so isolated. Seniors can live with their friends and enjoy a full life together instead of being added to a retirement home where they may not know the other residents. This enhances people’s emotional health and makes people feel more in control of their destiny. Additionally, families will not have to deal with the stigma that they gave up on their senior relatives or “dumped” them into a nursing home.

Friendship and Community

Cohousing spaces are exciting for seniors because they have friends nearby and a host of activities to keep them busy. For example, seniors can garden together, watch television together and even cook together. They no longer have to feel isolated or lonely because they have a community of friends around them. This makes aging bearable, if not fun. Seniors can also exchange tips and information and feel like they have a support system going through the same things as them.

Stay Active with Friends

It is hard to stay motivated with exercise if a senior lives alone or is in a sterile nursing home. However, it is easier to stay active if you have friends around you asking you to go for walks or work in the garden. A strong support system keeps people both physically and mentally happy. Cohousing groups can even come up with their weekly schedule together and do things they enjoy: from trips to games at home. It is easy to come up with these options if you are already friends!

Privacy and Control

One of the chief benefits of cohousing options for seniors is that people have control over their living. Losing control and independence are two things that seniors really struggle with as they get older and stop working. Instead of being sent to a strange retirement home, seniors are choosing to live with people they know. They can have their own room or apartment while still having companionship. In most nursing homes, people have to share rooms with people but cannot always choose. Roommates dealing with dementia or depression may make it hard to live. For example, they may have night terrors, screaming episodes and more. Choosing privacy in a safe cohousing environment enhances everyone’s quality of life.

Affordable Option for Everyone

Nursing homes can be very expensive, even with insurance. If someone does not have insurance, then it can be really hard to afford a retirement home with a lot of extra amenities. Shared housing gives seniors more options for their later years without breaking their bank or their families’ budgets. Seniors all share in the expenses at such a home: from the utility bill and rent to the food and healthcare.

Peace of Mind

Thanks to the community, seniors will always have someone around. If they were living alone at home, it could take hours or days for someone to notice that they had a fall or an illness. In cohousing, there are other people around who will notice if they do not see someone. It gives everyone peace of mind to know their loved one is safe. If someone has a medical issue, the community will know about it and can even check in on their friend. Additionally, regular wellness checks can happen by the healthcare professionals people choose to visit the home.

Many Healthcare Options

A cohousing environment can have any level of healthcare. Some seniors pitch in and hire nurses to come and support them round the clock whereas others only have professionals come in for an hour or two a day. That said, if someone does fall ill, their friends are around to support them, even in their later years. Having a community around prevents a lot of issues from happening. It is really up to the seniors and their families to think about the level of care that is needed. The best part of cohousing is that everyone has a say in the support staff. The seniors can help interview candidates and families will always know who is working with their loved one at any given time.

Prevent the Horror Stories

The news is full of nursing home horror stories where seniors are abused physically or emotionally. Families can be sure their loved one will not be neglected if they are living with their friends. Many nursing homes are also short on quality staff, which is why neglect happens. Cohousing with friends is a great solution for families that want to know their loved one is safe, happy and cared for.

No one has to waste away their final years in a sterile nursing home. Instead, cohousing provides seniors with independence, privacy and community. They can spend their last years laughing, cooking and connecting with people their own age. Families no longer have to worry about care once people are no longer able to live alone. Talk to your senior family members today to explore this rich alternative to retirement homes. It has long-lasting mental and physical benefits that are cost-efficient and safe. Do now wait until the last minute to think through this option. A little planning today can make cohousing with friends a reality for you or your relative.

Nursing homes are traditional way. Let's get into the new trend. Tell your loved ones more about CoHousing with friends by spreading the word about this article.

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation with your doctor. Your health is important to us!