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When faced with aging parents and their growing need for more attention and care, many adult children decide to move their parents into their own homes. However, while this might seem like a prudent option, experts recommend that adult children consider the challenges of moving an aging parent in with them. 

To avoid potential issues and ensure an easier transition for everyone involved, consider the tips below. 

1. Consider the Challenges

Moving your parents in with you comes with many challenges, no matter who is involved. However, you can prevent and avoid these challenges with a little extra planning and consideration. 

First, you should consider the level of care your parent or parents will need. If your parents need round-the-clock care, for example, you’ll need more in-home services. And if you don’t have the time to take care of them yourself, you’ll likely spend a pretty penny to ensure they’re taken care of. If their needs are too much, they might benefit more from an assisted living facility where the staff is trained to offer specialized care.

Next, consider the financial implications. If your parents have medical and mobility needs, you’’ need to provide accommodations to make your home more accessible. However, making mobility modifications and buying medical supplies is not cheap. 

There is also the space you have available to consider. Squeezing your parents into your home now might not seem like a big deal, but if everyone feels like they’re living on top of one another,  tension can arise. 

So if you don’t have the space, can you afford to make additions to your home to expand it? If you don’t, it might make more sense to put what money you do have into keeping them in their own home and paying for in-home care or moving them into an assisted living facility. 

2. Talk to Them About Expectations

Setting expectations and boundaries is the best way to avoid resentment during this transition with your parents. This may involve exploring changes that need to be made — for you and your parents — to make this new living situation work. 

If you expect your parents to help out after they move in, you should discuss these concerns and your plan of action to avoid any misunderstandings. If they can’t help run the house because of their ability level or they can’t support the house financially, you should talk about any expectations you both share and what changes are necessary. 

These changes don’t necessarily mean your life won’t be anything like it used to be. Instead, you can collaborate and find ways to fit your parents in with your daily family routine. Or you may need to talk to them about creating a new routine that suits everyone’s needs. 

And what about shared spaces or private spaces? When you move your parents into your home, it’s still important to respect everyone’s privacy and boundaries. If you don’t talk about this upfront, it can lead to arguments and clashing down the road. 

3. Involve Them in the Process

Make sure you include your parents in the process when you start packing for the move. They might already be feeling like they are losing their independence, so it’s important to help them feel like they are a part of the process by asking for their consent. Otherwise, they may feel as if life is out of their hands and they don’t even have the freedom to make choices anymore. 

You can do this by making a moving checklist together. Not only is this an excellent time for them to bring up any concerns they personally have, but they’ll feel more included as a result.

Creating a moving checklist, in general, can also benefit the moving process by keeping everything more organized. As you merge your parents’ stuff with your own, there could be things you realize you don’t need or don’t have the space for. 

4. Help Them Maintain a Social Network

Despite the challenges you and your parents experience during this transition, life can still be enjoyable. It’s important to make it so for your parents and yourself. This will be a big change for everyone, and it’s helpful if everyone is still able to enjoy the things they once did, especially where socializing is concerned. 

Helping them stay social can also help prevent depression and feelings of isolation. In many cases, social activities for older adults are oriented around physical activities which not only help their physical health but their mental health as well. 

For example, you can get them involved in group fitness classes geared toward seniors where they can stay active and make friends, such as water aerobics or yoga. Or you can look into local meetups in your area for older adults, like book clubs, theater outings, or nature walks. 

Whatever their interests are, there is likely a group somewhere that shares those interests that you can help them get involved in. 

In Summary

Although many challenges accompany the process of moving your parents in with you, it will all work out in the end. In the meantime, have patience and empathy. This process is equally stressful for everyone — you and your parents alike. As long as you keep an open mind and lend a little grace to yourself and your parents, you’ll ultimately speed right through this transition in life.