Effective Decision Making - Selecting An Assisted Care Facility
So you are faced with a difficult decision. What assisted living facility is right for my mom or dad. Just thinking about the whole process makes you uncomfortable but it shouldn’t. You make dozens if not hundreds of decisions every single day and don’t even think about it. But those are decisions you are used to making or don’t have as much impact on anyone’s life. The truth is that the same process you subconsciously use for all the little things is the same you need now. Just take it one step at a time.
The first thing you have to do is assess your situation. Sit down and ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve. Sometimes the simple act of asking yourself and writing down the answer can really help get your arms around the problem. Still not there? Ask for some help. Friends, family, or even co-workers are not as emotionally involved as you and can often see the important issues better than you can. Don’t isolate yourself.
The next step is goal setting. Succinctly state what you want to achieve in your process. Maybe you want to find a facility that is in your price range or within a defined radius of your home. All these things are important but often are floating around in our heads. Write them down, prioritize them, determine which are must haves and which are nice to haves. You will find that your stress levels are already going down just knowing what you need to know.
So you got your goals, now you are ready for the next step, the plan. Come up with a plan on how you are going to meet your goals. How are you going to find facilities that you can compare to your newly created goals. Maybe you will research on the internet, maybe you will use a free referral firm like Caring Senior Placement. Whatever you do, develop a plan and then execute! You can always change your plan later but just make one and go do it!
So you have everything you need now to make an effective decision. You have made an assessment of the problem, you have set goals and you made and executed a plan to meet those goals. You are well on your way to making a decision you can be happy with. Just remember one thing. Your decision doesn’t have to be final. Don’t stress yourself out that once to move your senior into that facility, that you can’t move them right back out. Consider the move a trial period so you can make sure that they are meeting your goals. See, wasn’t that easy? Just break it all down into manageable pieces and its easy to make a good decision.
