A Clear Path Editorial TeamWhen someone you love is going through a difficult transition in life, it’s only natural to want to help.
Older adults face complex challenges when it’s time to downsize and move. As mobility and health concerns create new limitations, many of them feel anxious and depressed. They may chafe at the idea that anything needs to change. All the while, however, the world around them becomes more difficult to navigate.
Aging can present real challenges to a person’s identity and sense of self. It’s not necessarily the case that they don’t see that anything needs to change. Rather, the scope of what needs to be done can become so huge, they feel overwhelmed. Admitting that they need help gets harder, but so does setting the situation right.
You want what’s best for your loved one. And you can see that the way things are is unsustainable.
The solution is expert help from a senior move manager.
What Is a Senior Move Manager?
Moving management is a growing field that helps thousands of people with their big moves every year. There is no one central body that governs the practice of moving management, so you want to be sure you choose a qualified senior move manager from an organization you can trust.
A senior move manager is more than just a “moving company.” In moving management, the goal is to foresee any kind of problem that could arise throughout the moving process. By recognizing issues and taking action before they start, a move manager smooths the path for seniors to make the right long-term choices.
On top of understanding moving as a process, your moving management team leader should have compassion and empathy for seniors. Physical, emotional, and psychological support are all indispensable to deliver a successful move without leaving a senior feeling like his or her life is spinning out of control.
Senior Moving Management with Compassion
Old items of clothing, end tables, mirrors, books, and keepsakes. These may not look like much at a glance. But items like this can have profound sentimental value to a senior. “Obvious” things like photographs are not the only belongings that need to be protected, especially if the older adult has lived in a home for many years.
Sometimes, especially if they feel emotionally isolated from others, elders can develop “pack rat” tendencies. Over time, this may grow into a problem. In a cluttered, chaotic environment, seniors are more likely to suffer physical injury. They might slip and fall or be struck by debris. While most people do try to maintain pathways from one room to another, these can be difficult to navigate and may be especially hazardous if there is a fire or other disaster.
Whatever the case, move management should start with an assessment of the environment and the senior’s needs. It is impossible – and cruel – to simply sweep through a home and destroy or dispose of everything in sight. The right items must be preserved in accordance with the senior’s desires and future living space.
Seven Key Parts of Moving Management for Older Adults
Helping a senior move can be an immense, complicated, and lonely undertaking. Your senior move manager is the ally who makes it easier. They will consistently move the project forward to completion while keeping you updated. You’ll always have the details you need to make informed decisions.
Comprehensive moving management should include all of the following:
1. Clutter Assessment
If a senior has had difficulty cleaning or organizing possessions from a long and eventful life, clutter assessment, is a necessary first step. This helps ensure that hazards are removed, paths are cleared, and important items are identified as early as possible. This also provides peace of mind throughout the rest of the process, since it will be easier to navigate the space while waiting for moving day to arrive.
2. Shredding
It’s not unusual to accumulate lots of paperwork over the years. Even outdated correspondence can pose a risk of identity theft for seniors. It’s never wise to simply throw such items out: They can easily be retrieved from the trash by unscrupulous characters who notice your moving preparations. A complete process of shredding can eliminate this risk. It also helps highlight the items you may wish to scan, copy, or put away safely.
3. Electronics
Many seniors have a fraught relationship with electronics. Moving management makes it easier by identifying items that are still useful and separating out the rest. Old electronics can be dangerous, containing toxic batteries and environmentally unfriendly materials with very specific rules surrounding their disposal. Your move manager should have all the resources on-site to make sure these are safely eliminated early on.
4. Packing
Packing looms large in any move, but it’s especially crucial in moving management for the older adult. Items must be packed carefully and in accordance with an unpacking plan. This ensures that any items needed right away become available within an hour after moving. Packing coincides with staging items on the premises so they can be moved based on their order of importance, with nothing damaged or misplaced along the way
5. Moving
It’s a big milestone when people and possessions are safely underway to their destination! Before departure, your moving management leader will perform another site assessment – this time at the new home. Any equipment that may be needed, like trash receptacles, are moved in. Depending on your needs, your moving team can start setting up the new home hours or days before your official arrival.
6. Unpacking
Unpacking is just as vital as packing, and it has to be done right. One way that unpacking differs in senior moving management is that it’s a step toward organizing, where everything is set up better than new. During the unpacking phase, all your carefully marked boxes are set up and unpacked in each room. Clothes can be placed in dressers or hung up, beds made, and many other services performed that average movers won’t do.
7. Organizing
Imagine a concierge service that leaves your living space immaculate, arranged in ways that are even more convenient than you could have thought up after the ordeal of moving. That’s the objective of the organizing phase, where seniors can settle into an environment that’s warm and welcoming. After organizing is done, everything in the new living space is better than new and it’s like the whole moving process never happened.
A Clear Path Makes the Impossible Possible for Your Most Important Move
We know what you might be thinking: This is a tall order!
It takes moving management professionals years of experience to learn all the ins and outs of helping a senior achieve a seamless and ultimately peaceful move. You want this to be the best move of your loved one’s life, but with everything else on your mind and the demands on your time and energy, you shouldn’t do it alone.
Contact A Clear Path for personalized advice. We look forward to helping you and your loved one soon.
