By Bill Chen

If you have older loved ones in your life, chances are at some point you will be called in to help them with a significant house move. Whether they’re moving to be closer to a carer, downsizing, or shifting into facilities better suited to their needs, it can be a tricky and emotional task for everyone involved. Whilst you can employ the services of a Balmain removals company, you will still be needed for helping them get from A to B. 

Undoubtedly this can be a tricky task – so here are 5 tips to help you help an elderly person move home.

1. Allow More Time

When you’re younger, you are a bit more resilient. You can carry a big, heavy box out to the car, and then run back up the stairs for more. However, older people are not quite so resilient. We have to be careful, and allow more time on moving day. 

2. Give them some understanding

The older you are and longer you have lived somewhere means you can get more emotionally vested in the home they’re leaving, and it’s expected that there will be sadness and apprehension about the move. It can be a tough conversation to have with your aging parent, but give them time to grieve the change and talk about where they will be living and why they are moving, in order to help make the transition smoother. 

When seniors are asked to leave their longtime homes, a frequent cause of distress is their perceived loss of control, so give your loved one as much choice as possible as they plan and implement the move. Use of the best removalists Western Sydney offers will certainly help, but the onus is also on you to help them and let them feel the support and control again. 

3. Enlist the help of relatives

This will undoubtedly be a big job, so enlist help from your family. Encourage siblings or other close family members to take a few days off of work to help. Even kids and younger family members can have an important role. Moving with kids can really help grandparents feel better with the whole thing. Surrounding your senior parents with loved ones who are supportive and encouraging could help ease the emotional stress of moving as well.

4. Clean and repair

After the organising and packing is complete, there is work that still needs to be done. Whether the house is going to be sold, rented or passed on to another relative, the house should be cleaned, and they should consider making any required repairs now before any get worse. It’s better to take care of maintenance issues ahead of time rather than dealing with them later while the house is for sale (or after renters move in). 

5. Help them find a new doctor etc

Healthcare should be top of mind when moving an elderly loved one. If the senior is moving to a new suburb, city or state, you’ll need to help them find a new doctor, dentist and other services as soon as possible. I recommend calling a few months before the move to schedule an appointment with a doctor in the new city. Also be sure to let your loved one’s current doctor know about the move. Prescription refills should be moved to a pharmacy near their new home as well.

Happy moving with your elderly loved one!

Meet The Author - Bill Chen

Before 2008, Bill was working with a local removalist company in Sydney and was witness for a number of deformities and wrongs in the working of the company. Observing the atmosphere, a thought came to Bill’s mind that he could do much better if he were the owner of the company, by offering a fully transparent service to the clients with a friendly and trustworthy staff and no hidden fee structure; and thus, in 2008, AAA Bill Removalists Sydney was formed with just one truck and only Bill as staff. Even if Bill Chen began the company as just one man, the company grew fast. The operation expanded beyond the Sydney suburbs and to the surrounding cities: Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, Canberra, Newcastle, Melbourne, Brisbane, and other.