Our care homes across the UK act as a welcoming home to people from all walks of life. We aim to make the process of moving to a care home as simple and as enjoyable as possible, with expert staff there at every step of the way to answer any questions you may have. Whilst we aim to guide you through every step of the process, we’ve put together a handy moving into a care home checklist to help prepare you and your family for moving to a residential home.
Preparing to Move Into a Care Home
If you or your relative are moving into a care home, you will already have probably taken your time choosing the right care home for you. If not, take a look at our guide on how to choose a care home here.
1. Decide What you Will Take With you to the Care Home
The first point in our moving into a care home checklist is to talk to your chosen care home about whether you will be moving some of your own furniture into the care home or if you will be only using items of furniture already in the home. Even if the latter is the case, you will still be able to take small items of home with you such as a favourite cushion or box to make your new home feel more familiar.
If you will be moving some of your own furniture into the care home with you, make sure that you know the measurements of the room you will be moving into and any rules, such as being fire retardant, that your items may need to abide by. This will avoid disappointment on moving day.
2. Decide What you Will Do With Your Remaining Belongings
If you will be selling your current home when moving into a care home, one thing you will need to consider is what you will be doing with the remaining household items you will not be taking to the care home with you. You may wish to give some belongings to family members or send items to a charity shop.
3. Make Sure to Inform People of your New Address
From your friends to your bank, if you have any services registered to your current address or any post that will be arriving at your current address, be sure to have it redirected to your new home. Informing Royal Mail of your new address will allow them to ensure any post that is sent to your old address will be forwarded to your new home.
4. Talk to Your Care Home About your Preferences
One of the most important things on our moving to a care home checklist is to talk to your chosen care home about your preferences so that they can get to know you and you can get to know them before moving to your new home. This will help the moving process go a lot smoother and help you to immediately feel more settled upon your move.
What to Pack When Moving to a Care Home
No moving to a care home checklist would be complete without including a care home packing list. If you are moving to a care home, you might want to take some time to consider which personal possessions you would like to take with you. Do you have a favourite book and pictures? Decide which clothes you will want to pack to take with you and sort out if there are any items you will probably not want to wear again. Make sure to include some items of clothing for special events, as well as clothing for different seasons and for any activities such as gardening.
If you have any favourite toiletries or bedding items, it is also worth including these on your moving to care home checklist for packing to make sure you take all of your creature comforts with you.
Staying in Touch When Moving to a Care Home
Whilst all of our care homes encourage regular visits from friends and family members, the pandemic has meant that visits have been restricted to ensure the safety of our residents. You can find some excellent alternative methods of staying in touch in our blog here but some good items to take with you are a personal mobile phone and a tablet if you have one. These are great for video calls with family members who may live far away and our staff will be right there to help set up calls if needed.
If you have any questions about our care homes or the process of moving into a care home, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team at Select Healthcare by calling 01384 217900 or contacting us online.
