As a Senior moving to a new home, whether to a downsized residence, a new house, or a retirement community, the moving process can be incredibly stressful and difficult. For these clients, the actual lifting and carrying might even be the easiest part. It’s the before and after that brings them the most stress. This is where it really pays to have a packing and moving company that specializes in Senior Moving and Relocation.
Many times, families face the real challenge of helping a senior member relocate to a new house that is easier to maintain and/or navigate, or a retirement community that will make life easier for them long term. Sometimes this also can involve a senior moving closer to be near grandchildren, or a relocation to a warmer climate as well.
However, after many years in the same, there is the question of downsizing, packing, and the financial and complex issues with come with leaving a long term family home and relocating. This is where it truly can be a blessing to have a packing and moving company that is experienced in this process, and working with seniors that are going through this difficult time.
Such a Senior Moving Specialist are also organizers who can assist older people with the challenges of relocating, and can minimize the stress of this major transition by doing most of the work. By helping to declutter and downsize, efficiently pack, set up and supervise and manage the move – the stress on the Senior and their family can be greatly reduced.
In 2010, researchers at the Gerontology Center at the University of Kansas conducted a study on elderly people and their ideas about their belongings. University researchers looked at survey data from 22,000 participants aged 50 and older and found that about 30% of people over age 70 had done nothing to give away belongings over the past 12 months. And 80% of the same group said they had sold nothing in the past twelve months. “Yet more than half of the respondents in all age categories believed they had too many belongings,” notes this Reuters report, which goes on to say the majority of people surveyed claim to have more things than they need.
For these folks the problem may not just be denial, but rather, the extraordinary difficulty associated with giving up items that are so closely linked to their identities, their past and their memories. Many Seniors may find it overwhelming to think about letting go of the items they’ve gathered over a lifetime… It can feel like they are giving up cherished memories, especially if they are faced with leaving a long-term home and this can be traumatic. Having professionals pack, manage the move, and unpack can make it much easier to face this process.
A senior moving professional can lend an unemotional hand in tackling this very emotional process. Having a professional – someone trained in the art of assisting seniors move – helps elders through the emotional part of moving, by allowing them to avoid some of the agony of letting go, since they aren’t witnessing the object-by-object decision making. This can also help family members avoid watching their parents go through this often painful process.
Yet for all the logistics and practicalities the moving professional handles, it seems equally important that they do so with a skilled, gentle hand. A good elder or senior mover will need the right personality. They will stand back and let the elder reminisce as objects are packed. Senior movers will sympathize, but not dissolve into tears as a family member might do. They will be gentle, but firm as well. They will kindly help the elder through the transition, organizing and simplifying the process.
Being sensitive to the situation is also key to providing the ideal move for our elders – and reducing the stress and physical demands required during a transition is so vital. A packing and moving company may not be able to become experts on the delicacies of helping seniors with the emotional aspects of their transition, but we can provide planning, patience, efficient and timely packing and unpacking, as well as the actual move itself. By giving this much needed support to both the Seniors and their family members, we can provide a sense of trusted relief to members of the community in a time of natural transition.
To learn more about the Senior Moving Solutions of Pack N Send, contact us anytime by email at sales@packnsend.com, or directly by phone at 713-266-1450. We are happy to answer any questions, and assist in your upcoming move.