Making the decision to put a loved one in an assisted living facility can be difficult. Your loved one might be very attached to his or her home and might not want to leave. He or she might also worry about being able to see his or her friends and stay in contact with family. Here are some tips for keeping your loved one connected to the world and his or her social circle while he or she is in an assisted living community such as Orchard Park.

1. Show Your Loved One How to Use the Internet

The first thing that you will need to do is show your loved one how to use the Internet. This involves getting your loved one set up with a device that can connect to the Internet. If the assisted living has wireless internet, then you can choose between a laptop, a phone, or a tablet. If it does not, then you will have to go with a phone or a tablet, since both run off of mobile data as well. Your best bet is to go with the device that is the largest because it will be easiest for your loved one to see the words on the screen.

Next, you will need to show your loved one all of the basic ways to communicate with people. Get him or her set up with a Facebook account and an email address if he or she does not have one already. Depending on your loved one's age, also get him or her set up with a Twitter account. Make sure that you send friendship requests to all of your loved one's family members that have Facebook profiles and follow friends and family members that are on Twitter. Load your loved one's contacts for his or her email address with the email addresses of all of his or her friends. Write down any instructions that your loved one seems to have a hard time remembering so that he or she can refer to it later.

2. Set Up Letter Writing

If your loved one is unable or unwilling to use the Internet, consider setting up a letter writing system with your family and with your loved one's friends. Have a rotating schedule in which one or two people write your loved one a letter a week so that your loved one is getting news about the family. Also make sure that your loved one has someone to call every few days. Rotating this schedule will allow your loved one to stay in touch with his or her loved ones.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in assisted living facilities.

Share