The sense of relief you can feel once you have found a nursing home suitable for your loved one can be huge. It can feel like a weight off your shoulders, but then you have to deal with the actual move.
Just like any move, there is a lot to think about when moving a loved one into our nursing home in Worthing. We want to make this process as smooth and easy as possible for you and your loved one.
One of the tasks that can feel never-ending can be dealing with the admin that comes with a move to a nursing home. Shutting down subscriptions, changing addresses and making sure everything is ready for the move. In this article, we have made a list of the not-so-obvious tasks that will need doing, so that you don’t miss them out before your loved one moves into our home.
Give notice to your landlord
If your loved one is living in rented accommodation, then you will need to remember to let your landlord know that they are moving out.
They will need to know the exact date of the move and you should give them as much notice as possible.
Notifying banks
Just as you would when moving house, you will need to notify any banks that your loved one has accounts with, of the move.
If they are tech-savvy and have been using online banking, then you might be able to do this on the app or online. If they haven’t got online banking set up, then you will need to go down to the bank in person or call them up.
It is worth noting here that unless you have got a financial power of attorney, then you will need to do this with your loved one as you won’t be able to do it on their behalf.
Contact their utility suppliers
You don’t want your loved one to be paying bills for gas and electricity they aren’t using.
Gas, electricity, phone and broadband providers all need to know that your loved one is moving and they will also need the moving date.
Before leaving the property for the final time, make sure you go and take a picture of the metre readings and pass those on to the suppliers. This can help make sure that your loved one pays for what they used as the photo will be timestamped.
Cancel any subscriptions
If your loved one is paying for something such as Netflix or a TV package, then be sure to cancel them before moving out. Of course, only do this if the subscription isn’t needed.
You might find that if they are subscribed to a magazine that they love, they can still have it delivered to the nursing home in Worthing, so rather than cancelling the subscription, just update the delivery address.
Inform family and friends
This might seem like an obvious one, especially as moving out of a home and into a nursing home is quite a big deal. It is important that family and friends know where their loved one is moving to so that they can visit.
Not only will this squash any confusion, but it can also enable a smoother transition period as visits from familiar faces can stop your loved one from feeling isolated or forgotten by those they hold dear.
At Country Lodge, we will work with you and your loved one to help them settle in. This will be through encouraging them to share their stories and memories with our staff or encouraging them to participate in our activities run by our Activities Ambassador. We also don’t have specific visiting hours, so you can visit whenever you want.
Discuss dietary requirements with the nursing home
If your loved one has any specific medical or religious dietary requirements then speak to the Nursing Home Manager before the move-in date. This enables them and the chef to be prepared for when your loved one moves in.
Assessment by our Registered Manager
Before moving into our nursing home in Worthing, our Registered Manager will complete an assessment. This will be to assess the needs of your loved one so that we can assess whether we will be able to meet your loved ones’ needs.
At this stage, we also enjoy starting to get to know your loved one a bit more, so we will ask about their likes and dislikes and will encourage them to tell us a bit about their past.
This isn’t something you will need to arrange, we will contact you to set up this assessment, but it is handy for you to know that it will happen.
Care needs discussion
Once the assessment by our Registered Nurse is complete, we will have another discussion with your loved one, yourself and any health professionals that need to be involved.
This conversation will be centred around the care needs that your loved one requires, and how we can best support them. It will cover both physical needs and mental needs, as at our nursing home in Worthing we know that your loved one will need mental and emotional support just as much as any physical support, some of our residents require more 24-hour care, whereas others just need us to be around.
Again this discussion will be initiated by us, so you don’t need to have it on your list of things to deal with. We just think it is helpful for you to know so that you can be prepared.
Looking for a nursing home in Worthing?
Country Lodge Nursing Home is a unique home that caters for a variety of different medical needs; whether your loved one is living with Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease, the consequences of a stroke, or just needs a little more assistance thanks to old age, we have the medical knowledge and experience to provide the assistance they need.
We are passionate about making our nursing home a home away from home for our residents. To do this we include them in our menu planning with our chefs, so that they get their favourite meals, encourage them to personalise their rooms and welcome friends and family members to visit at any time.
Our home is always full of laughter as our Activities Ambassador runs plenty of activities that keep our residents social and as mentally and physically active as possible. Plus, we love an excuse to celebrate, so we have lots of events throughout the year.
We want to help any move be as smooth as possible, so get in touch with our Registered Manager, Debbie if you are worried about any aspect of moving a loved one into our nursing home, call us on 01903 830600, or email us at manager@countrylodgenursing.co.uk.