Moving Day — What to Bring to Assisted Living, What to Leave, and the First 30 Days

In this article

1. Do not pre sort the pills
2. Clothing, and why two weeks is the right number
3. The paperwork that has to travel with them
4. Furniture, and what makes a room feel like theirs
5. The first 30 days, in the order to do them
6. The two weeks nobody warns you about
7. Visiting, and when to come back
8. If you have not chosen a community yet

Pack for a small apartment, not a house. What actually goes with your parent falls into five groups: about two weeks of clothing, every medication in the container the pharmacy dispensed it in, a short stack of paperwork, one or two pieces of furniture that fit the room, and the handful of objects they would notice missing. Everything else can come later, and most of it never does.

Do not pre sort the pills

This is the most common thing families get wrong, and it creates a problem in the first hour.

Florida rule tells assisted living communities how medication has to be handled, and the paperwork follows the label. Under Florida Administrative Code 59A-36.008, a community that helps a resident with medication has to work from the original labeled container, or from a written listing with the prescription number, the pharmacy, the prescriber, the drug, the strength, and the directions. Medications are then stored in a locked cabinet or cart rather than in the room.

So the weekly organizer you filled on Sunday is not enough on its own. Bring the bottles. Bring the over the counter things too, the vitamins and the stomach medicine and the eye drops, because those get handled the same way. If a prescription is about to run out, refill it before the move rather than during the first week, when the pharmacy, the doctor, and the community are all still learning each other's numbers.

Clothing, and why two weeks is the right number

A closet in assisted living holds a season, not a wardrobe. Two weeks of everyday clothes means your parent never runs out between laundry days and the room never fills up.

Pack what they actually wear. Pull over tops and pants with elastic waists get worn; the blouse with the small buttons usually does not. Bring shoes with a back and a real sole, since a lot of falls happen in slippers. Send a sweater even in Florida, because common rooms run cool.

Then label it. Every piece, with a laundry marker or sewn in tags. Clothing gets washed in bulk, and an unlabeled cardigan is how a favorite one disappears.

The paperwork that has to travel with them

Most of this is handled between the community and your parent's doctor, but it moves faster when a family brings copies on day one.

The health assessment is the one with a deadline. Florida requires a face to face medical exam by a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse, recorded on AHCA Form 1823, within 60 days before admission or 30 days after it. We wrote a fuller explanation of what the 1823 is and how to get it done, because it is the single most common reason a move slips by a week.

Bring copies of the insurance cards, the pharmacy information, the list of doctors with phone numbers, and whoever holds power of attorney or health care surrogate authority. If that part is unsettled, it is worth sorting out before the move rather than during an emergency at 2am.

Furniture, and what makes a room feel like theirs

Florida law is on your side here. The resident bill of rights in Chapter 429 says a resident may retain and use his or her own clothes and other personal property in their immediate living quarters, so as to maintain individuality and personal dignity. Rooms are furnished, but the things that matter are the ones that came from home.

Measure the room before you rent a truck. In practice what fits is a recliner or a favorite chair, a small dresser or bedside table, a lamp, and a television that is smaller than the one in the living room at home. Then bring the things with no practical use at all: the photographs, the quilt, the clock that has always been on that wall, the coffee mug. Those do more work in the first week than the furniture does.

Leave home the rug that slides, the space heater, the extension cords, the good jewelry, anything of real value, and the papers that belong in a safe deposit box.

The first 30 days, in the order to do them

The two weeks nobody warns you about

Moving day is usually fine. The two weeks after it are the hard part, and we would rather say so.

The Alzheimer's Association tells families plainly that it takes time to adjust, and that a person may have trouble sleeping, wander, fall, or eat less during that stretch. Some parents ask to go home every single day for a while. Some are angry at the person who signed the paperwork, which is usually the daughter who did the most work.

No community can promise you otherwise. If someone tells you the adjustment will be easy, they are guessing, and it is worth noticing that they guessed. What a community can tell you is what it does during those weeks: who sits with a new resident at the first few meals, who calls you when something changes, and how long it usually takes before a person finds their table in the dining room.

That is a fair question to ask before you move, and a fair one to ask again on day ten.

Visiting, and when to come back

There is no rule that families should stay away for a week, and we do not ask anyone to. Some families find daily visits settle a parent; others find the goodbye at the end of each visit restarts the grief. You will know which one you are dealing with within a few days.

What helps in every case is being predictable. Same day, roughly the same time, and say when you are coming back before you leave. If dementia is part of the picture, our notes on visiting a parent with dementia go further into what tends to work.

And if the guilt is the part you are carrying, you are in ordinary company. We wrote down what families told us about that, because almost every one of them said the same thing about the month after the move.

If you have not chosen a community yet

Then the packing list is early. Walk both of ours first, at a mealtime rather than a scheduled slot, and watch how the staff speak to the residents they are not showing you. You can book a visit online or send us a question and get a person rather than a form letter.

Frequently asked questions

What should I pack for assisted living?

About two weeks of everyday clothing, every medication in its original pharmacy container, copies of insurance cards and the doctor list, a chair or small dresser that fits the room, and the photographs and small objects your parent would notice missing. Label the clothing before it leaves the house.

Can I bring my own furniture to assisted living?

Usually yes, within what the room holds. Florida law says a resident may keep and use their own clothes and personal property in their living quarters. Measure the room first; a recliner, a bedside table, a lamp, and a smaller television is about what fits.

Should I sort medications into a pill organizer before the move?

No. Bring the original pharmacy containers, including over the counter medicines and vitamins. Florida rule requires the community to work from the labeled container or a written medication listing, so an organizer alone creates a delay on the first day.

What paperwork is required before moving into a Florida assisted living community?

A face to face medical exam recorded on AHCA Form 1823 is required within 60 days before admission or 30 days after it. Bring insurance cards, the pharmacy details, a list of doctors, and any power of attorney or health care surrogate documents.

How long does it take to adjust to assisted living?

The first two weeks are usually harder than moving day. Sleep, appetite, and mood can all be off, and asking to go home is common. Most families see things settle over the first month, but no community can promise a specific timeline.

Sources

• Florida Statutes 429.28, Resident bill of rights
• Florida Administrative Code 59A-36.008, Medication Practices
• Florida Administrative Code 59A-36.006, Admission Procedures
• Alzheimer's Association, Long Term Care
• Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

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Written by

Cameron Hernando Clark

Community Relations Director

Cameron Hernando Clark is the Community Relations Director for The Manors of Citrus. He writes this family guide to help Citrus County families make sense of assisted living and memory care, drawing on the day to day of running two family owned communities on Florida's Nature Coast.