Making a move to a retirement community is a big decision. To find out why people choose the senior living retirement lifestyle, Fair Haven’s Lifestyle Specialist Ardell Fleeson interviewed all of Fair Haven’s independent living residents to find out how they came to make their decision. (As a bonus, an interview with 3 of those residents was recently captured on video (9.5 minutes) and can be viewed on YouTube here.) Not surprisingly, the residents’ responses fell neatly into several categories that may be helpful to you if you are researching the retirement community lifestyle:

Takes The Burden Off My Children

The thought of depending on an adult child or other family member for groceries, cooking, doctor visits, entertainment and more was bothersome. Residents indicated that although they love their kids, they don’t want to be dependent on them. Besides, if their children are still in the working world, they will still experience a good deal of isolation that they are trying to remedy.

Savings On Household Expenses

When looking at the time and cost of maintaining a home and paying all the necessary extra bills, like for lawn care, electricity, housekeeping, food, etc., it made financial sense for many residents to move out of a single family home. Downsizing became very attractive, so why not find an affordable place to settle in, and spend your days doing the things you love?

To Be Close To Care

For some, the primary reason for selecting senior living, particularly at a full spectrum community like Fair Haven, was that they could move once and be done. With multiple levels of care all on the same campus, no matter what health changes might occur, their new home could be their ‘forever home.’

To Be Near Family/Friends

Several residents made the move to Fair Haven in order to be close to a spouse, sibling, or friend already living at the community. Several others made the move from out of state to be near an adult child living in the Birmingham area. The lifestyle improvement of being close to loved ones made sense.

Companionship

Though only two residents listed companionship as the primary reason for their decision to move to a senior living community, most residents indicated that people are the key to their satisfaction in the move. The friendships they have made in the community, being similar in age and interests, has made life very rewarding once arriving at Fair Haven.

For more information about life at Fair Haven, including details on our how to make Fair Haven your new home, contact Lifestyle Specialist Ardell Fleeson at 205-880-1942, or send an email to her at AFleeson@fairhavenbirmingham.org.