Older individuals often have too much stuff to bring everything when they transition to senior living. Friends and family members may help seniors procure storage space to stash items off-site during the move. Here are four pieces of advice to help older people while they make this significant change.

4 Tips for Assisting Seniors as They Downsize

1. Look Into Their New Home

If the person is transitioning to senior living, they may not need belongings like landscaping tools or kitchen items. Assess what the person will need in their new home, like furniture and linens, to help figure out what items to donate or give away.

This simple planning step will make sorting and moving everything much easier. You can even create a floor plan by drawing a sketch of their new home and denoting where the furniture will go. 

2. Go Room by Room

Help the senior avoid getting overwhelmed by going through each room of the house one at a time. Encourage them to sort through one room per day or so to make this process easier. Have them start several weeks before the senior moves to minimize stress and ensure everything is packaged up and ready when it’s moving day.

Procure a storage space ahead of time to fill as you go and further ease the anxiety of moving. The older individual can use this unit to stash items they’re not quite ready to part with or not sure they’ll need until they transition to the new place.

3. Create Four Piles 

While going through the home, organize everything into four piles to make it obvious where everything will go. Create an area for items the senior needs daily—you’ll pack these last. Take any gently used items the senior doesn’t need to donate to a local shelter.

Listen as the older person shares stories about family heirlooms and set aside important things they want to give away or pass to the next generation. Denote items the senior wants to hold onto but won’t need regularly. Bring these boxes to the storage space.

4. Label Everything

Use a thick marker to add a general label to every box, like kitchen items. Then, break down the inventory to include pots and pans, utensils, and cookbooks. This step will make it easy for the senior to find what they’re looking for when they arrive at their new home. 

If you need storage space while helping an older person move to a senior living community, contact IncaAztec Self Storage in Lorain County, OH, to learn about their units. The facility has been open for 20 years, serving residents of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Call the Elyria-area location at (440) 986-5201 or visit the website for information on their unit sizes for trailers, RVs, cars, boats, and household items.