Moving from your Family Home to a Retirement Village
Preparing to Move and Downsize
It’s a big decision for most people to consider moving from their family home to downsize and move to a retirement villa. It can be an emotional and physically stressful period for retirees. Particularly if the move is away from their home town. However, by preparing yourself and embracing change, you may find the experience a lot less stressful or emotional than you first think.
Plan Ahead
Draw up a moving plan using helpful checklists of what needs to be done and when. Organise and declutter well in advance of your move, using your new floorplan to work out what will go where and what space you have to work with. Involve your family and friends who can help you. Next, start making arrangements for the actual move. You can either manage most of it yourself and with help from your family and friends, or contact professional services. Such as a packing service, removalists, storage containers, council kerbside pickups, charity donations and/or rubbish removalists. As you exit your existing home, you’ll need to have arranged professional cleaners ready for the new residents to move in.
Think about what’s in front of you and what you can arrange prior to your move. For example, what health amenities are close by, perhaps make contact to have your medical records transferred and get on their books. Find out what social activities are available in your new retirement village and consider which ones you may like to try.
Transitioning to a New Home
The key to making your move a positive experience will include being organised and well-prepared while ensuring you have the support you need. At St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle villages, we have staff members who will be available to help you at every step of the way to help your move go as smoothly as possible.
Settling in
Personalise your environment and make it feel like home. If you are moving in with your partner and they suffer from either Alzheimers or Dementia, try to position your furniture in a similar fashion to your previous home, including the way you laid out your cupboard items to cause less confusion and create familiarity. Helping you both to settle in more easily.
Moving Tips
- Start preparing to move as soon as you can to avoid last-minute stress.
- Draw up a moving plan/checklist with tasks and deadlines.
- Begin decluttering and downsizing by sorting through your belongings, creating recyled, donate or sell, and rubbish piles.
- Obtain your new villa’s floorplan and measure your furniture so you know what you can and can’t take with you.
- Label boxes so you can pack them in an organised manner and find items more easily on arrival at your new home.
- Seek help from family, friends, or professional services to ease the stress and physical challenges of moving.
- Notify important connections of your upcoming move and change of address, such as your doctor, bank, utility companies, insurance and telecommunications.
- Learn about your new community including the area if you are moving from another region, your village community, and social activities on offer.
- Embrace your new adventure and think of all the positive changes you will experience that take you into your next chapter.
- Keep connected to your current family and friends. Your social community is important and will help you transition and make new friends and new connections more easily when you have the support of existing friends and family.
Decluttering
It’s likely that you’ll be downsizing from your current home when moving to a retirement village. Here is an article we wrote about decluttering that may help you. If you are feeling slightly overwhelmed, try not to forget the positives about downsizing. According to minimalists, we feel much better without so many material possessions ‘cluttering’ up our space and needing continual maintenance and care. Plus, at our retirement village, you’ll have access to gardeners and maintenance services to free up your time. Once you have moved, take time to enjoy new activities, socialise or be out in the fresh air.
St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle Assistance
At St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle, we have a dedicated support team ready to help you with your move, to go as smoothly as possible. When you choose one of our retirement villages, we’ll provide you with guidance on what to expect on move-in day, contact details of who is here to help, a moving checklist and a warm welcome from both staff and residents!
For more information about our retirement villages and available villas, please get in touch with us.
