Is It Time for a Move?
This section is an overview of housing and care options for your loved one. In the menu on the right, you will find living situations to suit different care needs.
Making any type of move can be an emotional rollercoaster. You may feel relief that your loved one will be safe and receiving the care they need. At the same time, you may feel stress, anxiety, and guilt if you are not the one giving the care. Many caregivers are also dealing with the fear of being alone and being separated from their spouse for the first time.
Keep in mind that feeling unsure, frightened, worried, or second-guessing decisions is quite normal. You are not alone.
If you would like to talk with other caregivers about their experiences with Long Term Care (LTC), a Caregiver Support Group may be helpful. Our meetings focus on the needs of the caregiver in a safe, non-judgemental, friendly environment. Please call Caregivers Nova Scotia to find out about our 25 peer support groups that meet across Nova Scotia each month.
Caregiver Tips
If you have made the decision to make any type of move, it has not been made lightly or without a lot of thought, reflection, and discussion. It’s also normal for most caregivers to feel a lot of guilt. Kicking Family Caregiver Guilt to the Curb may give you deeper insight into ways to look at guilt and how to manage it. As explained in Our Family & Friends Don’t Get It, no one understands a caregiver like another caregiver!
Chances are, the decision to move has been made because your loved one is no longer able to live alone safely or you, as the caregiver, may no longer be able to provide the level of care needed. At this point, it is all about safety for both of you.
This may be the first stage of the moving process and you are looking at downsizing. Or it may be time to transition to a long-term care facility. Whatever stage you are in, recognize that although none of it will be easy, it can be done. You both will survive and even thrive if you are open to this change.
Remember, change is not the enemy. Author and speaker Jim Rohn said, “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” Instead of accepting and embracing what lies ahead, we may try to avoid it. Embracing Change, by Dr. Jamie Huysman, puts change into perspective for caregivers. We might have negative preconceptions about change, especially those associated with aging and housing. Why? Is it because we feel a loss of control? Do we have unpleasant memories about visiting a relative in a nursing home and the sights, sounds, and smells associated with those visits? Don’t let those memories stop you from making this important and necessary decision when the time comes.
It’s important not to let fear prevent you from doing what you know you need to do. You have made a difficult decision but trust that it is for the right reasons. As Teal Swan said, “We do not fear the unknown, we fear what we think we know about the unknown.”