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How CCRCs Give Your Children Peace Mind

General Senior Living

February 13, 2023

If you’re like many older adults, you know how hard it can be to take care of an aging family member. Whether you’ve previously taken care of a loved one or heard about the pressures of caregiving on the news or internet, it’s hard to ignore the possibility of becoming a burden on your family as you age. The good news is that your family likely doesn’t feel like taking care of you as you age is a burden. However, there is still a way to take your future care into your own hands and ease some pressures of family caregiving from your loved ones. Look at how Continuing Care Retirement Communities/CCRCs like The Chesapeake can help you secure a plan for the future and put you on the path to a retirement lifestyle filled with freedom from everyday worries.

Reasons Aging Parents Fear Being a Burden

Older adults have many reasons they worry about becoming a burden on their families as they age. Here are five reasons you might feel like it could be too much for your loved ones to provide the care you need for a comfortable retirement.

The kids have to take over housekeeping and home maintenance

Many parents are worried about the sheer physical work taken on by family caregivers. They don’t want to exhaust their loved ones with essential tasks like housekeeping, laundry, cooking, and personal care, like help with getting dressed.

Swapping caretaking roles can be overwhelming

Parents spend a good portion of their lives caring for their children, even when they’re adults. This can make it tough to switch roles and depend on their children for care. Plus, it can be difficult for parents to watch their children perform daily tasks they once did for themselves.

Restricting their family’s fun

The same study by Social Science & Medicine also found that many aging parents are worried about restricting their adult children’s usual social activities. Tasks like medication management, transportation to medical appointments, or other additions to their family caregiver’s schedule may take over some of their adult child’s social life, leading some parents to develop a fear of being a burden.

Feeling guilt over taking time away from other family members

In addition to being worried about interrupting their adult children’s social lives, some parents are also worried about taking away time and attention from other family members. Many aging parents express feelings of guilt at the idea of their needs being placed ahead of their grandchildren’s or their adult child’s spouse. They also may feel guilty about starting conflict between siblings regarding who is going to provide/pay for senior care.

Adding stress to their adult child’s life

It’s not a secret that many children dedicated to providing a high-quality retirement for their parents face caregiver burnout. Stress from caregiving duties can lead to a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion. Plus, the constantly rising prices of senior care can also add more financial strain on a family caregiver’s budget. It’s important to remember that your family loves you and is always ready to help find the care you need for a healthy lifestyle. A study by Social Science & Medicine also noted that the perception many older adults have of being a burden on their family caregivers isn’t one shared by their loved ones.

Fear of Being a Burden Can Affect Your Well-Being

Fear of being a burden might lead you to minimize or hide your needs to avoid causing your family emotional stress or financial hardship. This means you could be constantly strategizing how to conceal the amount of help you need with daily activities, hiding your feelings about growing older, worrying about bothering others, avoiding social situations where you might need help, or doing as much as you can for yourself, even though it causes you discomfort. Forcing yourself to perform tasks that are difficult or cause pain can lead to accidents and injuries that affect your entire routine. You and your family might have to quickly find and pay for higher levels of care, or come up with a plan for an in-home caregiver … either a family member or a hired aide.

Ease Your Anxiety About the Future at a Continuing Care Retirement Community

You can take the future of your retirement into your own hands and gain peace of mind for your entire family by moving to a Continuing Care Retirement Community/CCRC. This is a senior living community that offers Independent Living and a comprehensive continuum of care, typically all on the same campus. Not all CCRCs offer all levels of care, but at many – including The Chesapeake – you can count on these being available:

Assisted Living
Memory Care
Rehabilitation
Skilled Nursing

As an Independent Living resident at The Chesapeake, you can form meaningful friendships with your neighbors and the community staff, enjoy abundant services and amenities, relax in a maintenance-free residence, and rely on seamless transitions to higher levels of living, should you ever need them. This eliminates the burden of coordinating senior care if your needs suddenly change and your family cannot provide the support you need to have a healthy, happy retirement.

CCRCs Provide You with Peace of Mind and an Engaging Lifestyle

You can give your family peace of mind and yourself an incredible lifestyle at our CCRC in many other ways. From residences that are just right for you to flexible senior living contracts, here are five more ways The Chesapeake can help you enjoy retirement.

Residences designed for your lifestyle

Our beautifully appointed, maintenance-free residences at The Chesapeake are designed to help you maintain an independent lifestyle. While all our floor plans feature enhanced safety features, our apartment homes in Assisted Living have wall-to-wall carpeting to help prevent falls, open living spaces to allow those with limited mobility to move around more freely, and walk-in showers modified to assist with care needs.

Convenient services

Services like medication management, weekly housekeeping, laundry and flat linen services, scheduled transportation, pharmacy, and 24-hour assistance with daily activities allow your family to focus on spending quality time with you and not on being a caregiver. Plus, you get more free time to pursue your passions, focus on wellness and make lifelong friends in our community.

Enriching amenities

A robust calendar of weekly classes, events, and programs give you abundant social opportunities, while amenities focused on wellness help you maintain an active lifestyle. Your family will gain peace of mind knowing everything you need for an enriched retirement is steps away from your front door. At The Chesapeake, we feature a well-designed fitness center, heated pool, creative arts studio, hobby shop, community gardens, lifelong learning programs, game nights, a private putting green, and more! Your friends and family can even get a taste of senior living by staying in one of our guest suites that includes a complimentary breakfast.

You can stay close to your spouse

One of the biggest benefits of spouses living at a CCRC is that you and your spouse can stay close if you require different levels of care. You’ll still be able to see each other daily, attend programs and events together, and enjoy the company of your friends without having to move to another community.

Flexible ways to pay for senior care

Our CCRC features two ways to cover the costs of living in our community, which means a carefree retirement is within your reach. A Life Care contract at The Chesapeake guarantees residents unlimited priority access to a continuum of care at below-market rates and predictable monthly fees, which protects you and your family from the rising costs of health care. Those who move into Independent Living with a Fee-for-Service contract also have priority access to on-site care. However, if they need Assisted living or a higher level of care, they’ll pay full market rates for that care.

Take the Future of Your Retirement into Your Own Hands at The Chesapeake

Come celebrate 50 years of friendship, discovery and growth at The Chesapeake! Contact our retirement counselors online to schedule a tour of our CCRC in Newport News, VA, and discover a place where you’ll be confident knowing you have a secure plan for the future. We can’t wait to meet you!