Senior couple using a laptop together on a couch

Schedule a Tour of a Senior Living Community This Holiday Season

Assisted Living

December 10, 2021

The wreath is on the front door, and the lights are hung with care. The tree is decorated with ornaments and candy canes. The menorah has nine candles, each ready to be lit. These may be examples of how you adorn your home for the holiday season; you decorate because being festive during holidays is meaningful to you. But how you decorate during the holiday season also suggests something more — it symbolizes the ways in which you honor traditions and how you recognize other religious celebrations. Believe it or not, the same holds true for senior living communities. How Independent Living communities decorate during the holidays might be one of many signs whether that’s a community you or your loved one will feel comfortable in, not just during the holiday season but throughout the year. For example, scheduling a tour of a senior living community during the holidays can show how vibrant the community is and how it celebrates holidays with its residents. A community tour can also be an indicator of how it embraces people of different faiths. That’s not the only reason holidays are a perfect time to take a tour of a senior living community. If you’re wondering whether an Independent Living, Assisted Living or Memory Care community might be right for you or someone you care about, here are 5 reasons why you should plan a tour of a senior living community during the holidays.

Why tour an Independent Living community during the holidays?

You and your siblings are together with your parents. This is a big deal — because as an adult child, you know how busy you and your siblings are throughout the year. The holidays are an ideal time to get together to discuss any changes you’ve noticed in your parents, and whether those changes suggest they may need to move to an Independent Living, Assisted Living or Memory Care community in Richmond. It’s not an easy conversation to have with your parents, but it can be made easier when you have the perspective and support of your siblings.
Your extended family is all gathered together, too. Perhaps your aunts, uncles and cousins are all back for the holidays as well. The more the merrier — because additional family members can help you in your search for the right senior living community. Along with your siblings, extended family can help make calls, schedule tours, and talk with your parents about making a move that’s right for them. Consider asking extended family to join you and your parents on a community tour. Chances are they’ll notice things you don’t and ask questions you didn’t even think of.
The holidays can reveal how engaged and inviting the community really is. While we mentioned above that holidays can show off how vibrant an Independent Living community is, holidays can also reveal how a community engages both residents and their families. For most major holidays, quality senior living communities will host special events and activities: ice cream socials for Independence Day; egg hunts or special church services for Easter; turkey luncheons for Thanksgiving; caroling or an open house for Christmas.

For some older adults, holidays can be a lonely time. A tour is a great time to look for senior living communities that make it a point to celebrate and welcome families during significant holidays —like Christmas.

You can better compare what community life is like throughout the year. Every community has its own routines and rhythm. So schedule two separate tours — one during the holidays, with all the festivities and parties, and one right after, to see whether the energy of the community changes. Daily life in high-quality communities is usually very engaging, with events and activities happening constantly, no matter the month.
You can more easily meet other residents and family members. The holidays are typically when we’re all in good spirits, and that’s also true for residents living in an Independent Living community. Residents’ families are visiting, there are parties to attend, and everything is bedecked in festive lights and colors. There may be no better time than the holidays to mingle with residents and their family members and ask them what they love about the community.

Now is the best time to take a tour of a senior living community

You have 5 compelling reasons why you should tour a senior living community during the holidays. But which senior living community should you plan to visit? If you live in the Richmond, VA, area, look for a community that was recently voted Richmond’s best Continuing Care Retirement Community (there’s only one). The community should also offer the remarkable protection of Life Care and provide residents with 4-Star-rated health care (again, there’s only one). And it should offer extensive amenities and strong resident connections (yep, still only one community that offers all this). In other words, visit Lakewood, a retirement community in Richmond, VA, which provides all these things and so much more. You can contact us to get started, or learn more about our COVID protocols for community visits that we’ve enacted to keep residents, staff and visitors safe.