How To Stay Connected With Loved Ones After Moving To Assisted Living

Keeping in Touch After Your Senior Loved One Moves to Assisted Living

• Moving to assisted living often brings mixed emotions for families, including relief paired with worry about how relationships might change after the transition.
• Staying connected supports both emotional well-being and health, as regular contact helps reduce loneliness, depression, and cognitive decline.
• A simple, realistic communication plan with daily touchpoints and predictable visits helps families stay involved without creating stress or guilt.
• Visits feel more meaningful when they focus on shared, everyday moments rather than checklists, allowing loved ones to stay connected as family, not caregivers.
• Using low-effort technology and thoughtful long-distance touchpoints helps families remain present and involved, even when they cannot visit in person, reinforcing that connection can stay steady and natural over time at The Herrick House.

When a parent moves to assisted living, families often feel two things at once: relief that professional help is nearby and worry that your relationship with your loved one might change. You want to stay close without turning every phone call into a wellness check or every visit into an inspection. You need a practical plan for staying connected with your loved one that you can maintain.

Why Connection Matters After the Move

As they adjust to their new setting, your parent might love the dining room one day and refuse to leave their apartment the next. You might feel guilty for not visiting enough, then resentful when visits don't go well. Even when the move was the right choice for your loved one’s health and well-being, the adjustment period brings real emotional whiplash for everyone involved.

Research links loneliness and social isolation in older adults with higher risks for depression and cognitive decline. Regular contact, even brief phone calls, can help protect against both. Your parent isn't just happier when you stay in touch. They're healthier.

Build a Communication Plan You Can Actually Keep

Most older adults have more energy in the late morning or early afternoon right after they've had coffee and before the post-lunch slump hits. Start with one daily touchpoint and one weekly anchor, then adjust based on what works.

This might look like:

• Daily touchpoint: 5–10 minutes by phone, text, or voice message
• Weekly anchor: one longer call or visit
• Monthly plan: one shared activity like lunch or a family gathering

If you have siblings, decide who's doing what. Maybe your sister handles Tuesday calls while you visit on Saturdays. When everyone knows their role, nobody ends up calling Mom three times in one day or forgetting her entirely for a week.

Make Visits Feel Normal

Walking into your parent's room with a mental checklist of tasks for medications, laundry, complaints to report — turns you into a case manager instead of a daughter or son. Try focusing on everyday moments instead: take a walk, look through photos, bring their favorite cookies, or just sit together during an activity. Bring one of the grandkids along if the schedule allows. It doesn’t have to be an all-day event, but it will make them feel more connected.

Show up for the Wednesday movie screening or Thursday bingo. You'll support your parent's social life instead of pulling them away from it, and you'll actually see what daily life looks like instead of just hearing about it.

Staying Close From Far Away

Use “Old-School” Connection on Purpose

Letters, cards, and printed photos still work as well as ever. Your parent can prop a card on their nightstand and reread it all week. A handwritten note carries weight that a text message can’t replace.

Plan Video Calls Like You Plan a Visit

Video calls go better when you schedule them and keep them short. Eat lunch together on camera for 15 minutes. Share photos and talk through them. Read a few pages of a book you both know. Structure helps when staring at each other through a screen feels awkward.

Turn Everyday Life Into Small Touchpoints

Send a photo of your daughter's science project. Text about the weird thing that happened at the grocery store. Forward a funny meme. Your loved one wants to feel like they're still part of your life, not just someone you check in on.

Choose “Low Learning Curve” Tools

Go for options that require minimal setup and are simple to use:

• A digital photo frame that updates remotely (they never touch it)
• A tablet with three large icons and nothing else
• Captions turned on for video calls
• A phone with extra-large text

The goal is to remove friction, not add it. If a tool requires your parent to remember three steps every time they want to use it, they won't use it.

Staying connected with your loved one after a move to assisted living works best when it feels steady and natural. Set a rhythm you and your parent can keep up with. Use simple tools. Focus on calm visits that leave your parent feeling cared for rather than examined. Over time, your loved one can build new routines and relationships, and your family can stay close without constant worry.

Download our Family Decision Toolkit to learn more about what to expect in assisted living, how to prepare for the transition, and what questions to ask during your search. You can also contact The Herrick House team directly to schedule a visit or get answers to specific questions about our community.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. It's recommended to consult with a medical, legal, or financial professional for your specific circumstances.