How a Senior Care Plan Supports Independence and Daily Life
A senior care plan supports your independence by outlining goals for reaching the highest possible quality of life. Making a plan when you're still able to have significant input is ideal.
Almost 17% of adults in Texas have cognitive decline, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Many fellow Texans are looking for the best daily lifestyle support.
Denton, located about 40 miles north of downtown Dallas and 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth, is an excellent location for retirees, with a low cost of living, convenient access to medical facilities, and many recreational opportunities. You can maintain your independent routine with a well-designed senior care plan.
What Is a Senior Care Plan?
A senior care plan is a document that identifies your care needs and preferences. It helps ensure your family, caregivers, and healthcare providers are consistent and coordinated in supporting your wellness. A senior care plan should include multiple dimensions of health, like:
- Medical
- Emotional and mental
- Social
- Nutritional
- Environmental
The plan should assess your current state of well-being and look ahead to future needs.
Why Would Someone Need a Care Plan?
A quality senior care plan supports your independence in several ways. It facilitates personalized wellness care, helping ensure that your healthcare and service professionals provide care that matches your needs and preferences. You have less stress knowing that you have the support you need to maintain your independent lifestyle.
Senior care plans facilitate clear communication. Creating a care plan while you're largely independent allows you to be an active part of the process. You avoid making rushed decisions and can evaluate all the options.
What Are Five Things Included in a Care Plan?
A senior care plan has five steps:
- Assess needs and preferences
- Set clear goals
- Identify ways to meet the goals
- Implement the actions you identified to meet your goals
- Evaluate if you're on track to meet your goals and adjust the plan if necessary
Ideally, you will work on your care plan with members of your family and your primary healthcare provider.
Assessment
The assessment of your needs and preferences should include multiple dimensions of health:
- Medical, such as current health conditions and medication
- Physical abilities, including mobility and any difficulties with daily activities
- Emotional and mental
- Social
This is the foundation of your care plan for personalized wellness.
Goal Setting
Goals should be centered on your needs and preferences while remaining realistic. Goals focused on maintaining independence might include:
- Improve mobility and overall fitness
- Increase the number and quality of social interactions
- Participate regularly in intellectually stimulating activities
You can set a course of action more easily when you have specific, clear goals.
Identify Ways to Meet Your Goals
For each goal you and your team set, identify the support you'll need to achieve it. For example, if you want to improve your mobility and fitness, strategies might include:
- Joining a senior-focused exercise class
- Working with a personal trainer or physical therapist
- Finding ways to include more physical activity in your daily life
If care services will help you meet your goals, discuss what those services are and how often you'll need support.
Implement and Evaluate the Plan
After you identify actions to take, you can start to implement your care plan. Evaluation is essential to ensure that you're making progress toward your goals. If you don't feel supported enough in maintaining your independent routine, you can bring your team members together to reevaluate your senior care plan and make adjustments.
How Often Is a Care Plan Reviewed?
You and your team should review your senior care plan regularly to be sure it still meets your needs. Senior living communities typically review care plans every three months. A yearly review may be enough depending on your health situation.
If you have a significant change to your health, you should reassess and adjust your care plan.
Getting the Most from Independent Senior Living
Independent senior living gives you a safe, maintenance-free home in a community with other older adults. A care plan can help you take advantage of everything your community has to offer.
For example, if improving your overall fitness is a goal, you'll be more motivated knowing that a family member or medical professional will be following up with you. Measuring your accomplishments is also motivating. When you check in about your care plan, you'll see how you're progressing toward your goals.
Some independent living communities offer supportive senior services, like non-medical home care or personalized home health. A care plan will identify services that could help you maintain or improve your quality of life with daily lifestyle support.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Requirements for Independent Living for Seniors?
Independent living is designed for older adults who are able to live on their own but are looking for amenities that make their lives easier and more enjoyable. You generally need to be at least 55 years old, but individual communities may have a different age limit.
Independent living communities offer services such as housekeeping, yard maintenance, and chef-prepared meals. They provide a secure living environment and neighbors in in a similar stage of life.
Is a Senior Care Plan the Same as an Advance Directive?
No, a care plan isn't the same as an Advance Directive. An Advance Directive is a legal document that tells your healthcare providers and family members the medical care you do or don't want in the event you become incapacitated. The process of making a senior care plan may lead to creating an Advance Directive, though.
A Plan for Aging Well
A senior care plan can help you stay independent and get the most from life in your retirement community. It describes your goals for holistic wellness and the steps you and your support team are taking to get there.
Dogwood Estates in Denton is ready to be your partner in aging well with structure. Our newly renovated independent living community features a wide range of activities and classes as well as a fitness center, outdoor green space, and a dining room with chef-prepared meals.
We offer supportive senior services if you need more assistance in some areas of daily living. Our professional and caring staff can work with you to develop a senior care plan or simply help keep you on track.
Schedule a tour of Dogwood Estates today to see how our combination of independence and support can help you thrive.