Yes, You Can Move into Assisted Living with Your Spouse, even If You Don’t Need ‘Support’

December 1, 2021 by ·

Your spouse, the husband of decades, your wife of 60-plus years (or maybe just a few months) is having trouble. Maybe they had a medical emergency recently. Perhaps they were diagnosed with a form of dementia, like Alzheimer’s. Whatever the struggle, often it’s the spouse who becomes the first line of defense for him or her.

You take on this role because you truly invested in your partner, you honestly believed in the, “for better or worse, in sickness and in health” vow took when you married.

Yet, you also realize at your age, things are much more difficult than they used to be. You wonder if it’s possible to keep doing this without something bad happening to you or possibly both.

You looked into different elder care options.

Assisted Living Theodore, AL: Couples and Assisted Living

Assisted living was one of them. For all of the benefits that assisted living provides, you honestly believe this would be the right elder care option for your spouse at this stage in his or her life. Yet, you don’t want to be separated from him or her.

What can you do?

You can do what many other aging couples have done when it came to choosing assisted living: move in together.

Assisted living can provide a wide range of resources and support networks for your spouse, but also for you. Keep in mind that even though you may be physically fine and in relatively good health at your age, the challenges your spouse is facing is going to take an emotional (and possibly physical) toll on you.

That toll can also become mental, causing you anxiety, stress, and that can affect your physical health in time. The longer you try to be a primary caregiver without any support, especially in those advancing years, the more likely you will face an increased risk of physical health factors, like heart attack and stroke.

A quality assisted living facility should provide accommodations for couples.

They may not provide accommodation for all couples, but for married men and women and certain others, a quality assisted living community should be able to offer accommodations for both.

That means you don’t have to send your spouse off to an assisted living facility without you. Being separated and living in two different places can be extremely difficult emotionally for not just one elderly person, but both.

That emotional distress can lead to even greater health related risks and challenges. When you long to stay together, through thick and thin, but recognize that out of all of the elder care options available assisted living remains the best, you don’t have to be resigned to some idea you now need to live apart.

Reach out and speak to an administrator at the assisted living facility and discover what accommodations are available to spouses of those who would benefit from the support services assisted living provides. You may be quite surprised at how wonderful it is to still be able to remain together, just as you have always been throughout your marriage.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Assisted Living near Theodore, AL, contact Ashbury Manor Specialty Care and Assisted Living at 251-317-3017.

Filed Under: Assisted Living · Tagged: ,
About Cindy Johnson

Ashbury Manor’s Administrator since 2008, Cindy Johnson is a long-time expert in the assisted living field. Prior to her arrival at Ashbury Manor, Cindy managed acquisitions and crisis management for existing and new larger senior care project developments for eleven years. As regional manager for an Oregon-based assisted living management company, Cindy was directly responsible for operations for five 50-65 bed assisted living facilities. As manager during the transition to new ownership, Cindy reorganized internal operations and conducted leadership training for Executive Directors. As a result of her management and expertise, one of the company’s facilities (in Ocala, Florida) received a deficiency-free survey, resulting in the lifting of a moratorium on operation.

A nurse for 36 years, senior care has always been Cindy’s passion. Desiring to work more closely with residents, Cindy became a Category II Administrator in 2005. As Ashbury Manor’s Administrator, Cindy understands the complexities associated with dementia and cognitive impairment and she has fallen in love with seniors with dementia or cognitive impairment and their families.

Cindy is Treasurer of the local “Senior Coalition” chapter. She enjoys mentoring new candidates who want to become administrators.

As a 16-bed facility, with Cindy's training and experience, our residents and their families can be sure Ashbury Manor’s carefully selected staff provides the expertise of a larger facility while maintaining the individualized personal care of a small special needs home.
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