A partner’s companionship is one of life’s great joys. At Vivante, we believe couples have the right to enjoy each other’s company throughout their golden years, even when they have different care needs. Here’s how we make that goal a reality with compassionate senior living options for couples.
Table of Contents
- Understanding Different Care Levels Within One Community
- How Communities Keep Couples Together Despite Different Needs
- Navigating the Transition When One Spouse Needs More Care
- Why Vivante Excels at Supporting Couples Through Life’s Changes
- Discover Couples’ Living at Vivante
Understanding Different Care Levels Within One Community
Couples should never have to choose between staying together and getting the care they need. The emotional and physical connection is important to both partners’ well-being and may support healthy aging.
Yet, many older couples worry about what will happen when one partner needs more care. They may only be familiar with traditional assisted living or memory care communities, where all residents require services.
The good news is that senior living communities like Vivante do things differently. We tailor our assisted living services to each resident’s unique needs. While single-tier communities plan services first and welcome residents second, we put the resident first and offer different levels of care within the same community.
Available Care Levels
At Vivante, we believe the goal of senior care is to preserve the dignity and independence of individuals and couples. We offer three levels of increasingly involved care, which are:
- Independent living: For active older adults who can safely handle their own daily living activities but appreciate community amenities, such as housekeeping, laundry, and chef-prepared meals
- Assisted living: For those needing support with daily tasks, such as dressing, bathing, and/or medication management, plus planned activities and community dining
- Memory care: For residents needing specialized support due to Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, with a focus on safety and dignity
Many senior living communities offer only one type of service or have different communities geared to different needs. Vivante is a continuum-of-care community. We offer all three types of care under one roof, allowing us to meet older adults’ changing needs.
Our approach lets us provide a comforting level of continuity. Individuals can maintain their routines. Couples can live together or near one another, instead of needing to move into separate memory care or assisted living communities, and families can remain more closely connected.
How Communities Keep Couples Together Despite Different Needs
Every couple is unique, no matter their age. Some will thrive in the same living space. Others need more privacy but enjoy spending leisure time together. As a senior living community, Vivante respects those differences and incorporates them into residents’ living arrangements.
We have two options for couples’ living. One is a shared apartment where each spouse has a customized care plan, the standard for all Vivante residents.. Let’s try again here – weird sentence
Another possibility is for the couple to live adjacent to one another, each with their own room or apartment. Many couples prefer this arrangement if they’re accustomed to their own spaces. It allows them to maintain independence while being close enough to spend time together, even if one or both partners have limited mobility.- this needs work. Very few people pay for two apartments unless one spouse is in memory care and one is in AL.
Either option is possible at Vivante. Our flexible care delivery model allows our staff to bring services to individuals rather than adhering to a rigid plan. Residents’ needs are the priority, and we work around them.
If couples have different needs but want to live together, the Vivante team coordinates services without requiring separation. Families can rest easy knowing their loved ones will stay together and get the care they need. – this is tricky. A dementia diagnosis requires that the resident live in MC or have a full time caregiver, which we discourage
Navigating the Transition When One Spouse Needs More Care
Many couples enter senior care with similar needs. As time goes on, however, one partner finds they need more intensive assisted living services than the other. How a community handles this process says a great deal about its approach. This whole section needs work. If someone is independent and someone needs AL services, there is no need to move anyone. They age in place. MC is the only time someone might have to move.
Developing the Solution
At Vivante, we treat each transition as the unique situation it is. We begin by including the family in open conversations about the couple’s changing needs.
We know that open communication reduces fear and uncertainty, especially when someone is receiving specialized care. We talk to the couple and their loved ones about what they want, what they need, and what might happen next. We reassure them of our commitment to keeping them connected, and we include them in future planning as they are able.
Making the Change Gradually
As experienced senior care providers, we know that an older adult’s needs rarely change dramatically unless there is a major medical event. Most shifts occur gradually over extended periods.
We have the flexibility, resources, and staff expertise to shift our care delivery as those needs evolve. Instead of abruptly moving one spouse into a new situation, forcing both to adapt more quickly than necessary, we make gradual changes in the comfort of their own home.
Maintaining Close Connections
Routines and rituals provide great comfort to couples of all ages. Our caregivers help resident couples maintain those traditions, from having coffee by the window in the morning to enjoying tender good-nights before bed. Moments like these help to keep relationships strong.
Compassion is our touchstone and guiding force throughout each couple’s transition. We provide emotional support and understanding through our daily care interactions and offer additional resources as needed. Peer support groups often make a world of difference
Why Vivante Excels at Supporting Couples Through Life’s Changes
While some communities take a one-size-fits-all approach, Vivante delivers personalized care services to every resident. We honor each individual and the relationships that matter to them. We respect the bonds between spouses and support the strength of that partnership, no matter how long the couple has been together.
Relationship-Centered Care
Vivante’s individual care plans honor individual autonomy while supporting partnerships. We recognize companionship as a basic human need and acknowledge the joy, comfort, and stability that a committed partnership provides.
Our age-in-place approach means couples never face forced separation because of evolving needs. We have designed our community to facilitate connections across care levels, enabling partners to stay closely connected as needs evolve.
When one partner needs a more secure memory care situation, we work with caregivers and both partners to keep them closely connected. Partners can spend time together while both remain safe and each person continues to build new social connections.
Dignity, Autonomy, and Connection
Vivante is built on a culture of respect and individual agency. Helping couples stay together is part of how we live that value system every day. We respect the marital bond and help it sustain the tests of time, whatever those may be.- this is getting pretty corny
Staff members are available to provide hands-on support, hey get to know each couple and their unique dynamics. Then, when challenges arise, they can help to smooth the waters and make transitions easier.
We believe that couples’ golden years can and should be full of joy, and we’re committed to making that happen. At Vivante, their bond is paramount and the foundation of their well-being.
Discover Couples’ Living at Vivante
Supported by a caring staff committed to their well-being, both together and as individuals, couples stay together and stay strong at Vivante. Schedule a tour today and see what a great life can look like, transitions and all.
FAQs
Can senior couples share an apartment if they need different care levels?
Yes. Many assisted living facilities, including Vivante, accommodate couples living in the same apartment. Well-organized care plans allow staff members to deliver individualized services to each spouse. As with single residents, those services evolve as care needs change, often without either spouse having to move.
What if one spouse needs memory care and the other doesn’t?
Vivante’s continuum-of-care model allows one partner to live in a memory care neighborhood, while the spouse without cognitive challenges lives nearby in assisted living. We work with the family and the cognitively healthy spouse to arrange easy visitation. The spouse in memory care continues to receive support tailored to their needs.
How does Vivante support the emotional adjustment for couples?
Vivante is committed to supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of all residents. We plan every transition carefully and make any necessary changes gradually, so individuals and couples have time to adjust and understand the process.
Our staff is unwaveringly supportive. They understand the importance of spousal connection and believe that all couples deserve the dignity of time together at any stage. Resident couples benefit from their empathy and encouragement, as well as available peer support groups and other counseling resources.
