Seniors For Living

Although meals are provided and laundry is often take care of in-house, residents in assisted living still need a certain number of items, and they don’t always have to count on family members to take them shopping.

Whether they need greeting cards and stamps, cough drops, personal care items, batteries for the remote, shampoo, snacks, and other necessities and luxuries, most assisted living residents can look forward to community-sponsored trips to the grocery store (which may be held weekly or monthly, depending on interest and availability of transportation), a drugstore/pharmacy, or the mall. Some senior living communities operate a gift shop or general store on the property, stocking and selling popular items, and making it a little easier to get a gift for a visiting granddaughter or a get well card for a friend.

Relatives and friends will likely still need to assist their loved ones in the procurement of items, since the community-sponsored shopping trips may not be frequent enough or to enough different places (some prefer certain grocery stores that the community does not visit; others may require a special prescription at a pharmacy outside the range of standard transportation services), or because it is too difficult (physically or perhaps cognitively) to get the items on their own.

Your turn: How do you handle shopping for necessities for a loved one in assisted living?