When you were a child, your mother may have spent many precious hours with you. Now that you’re grown up, and your mother is in her old age—and, hopefully, retired—it’s your turn to spend precious hours with her. 

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But before she can enjoy her time with you fully, her fundamental needs must be met. 

To understand why, let’s look at how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs applies to ageing people. 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow (1908 to 1970) was an American psychologist best known for his concept of the “hierarchy of needs.” For Maslow, people need to fulfill certain basic needs before they can fulfill other higher-order ones. 

The five needs, starting with the most basic, are: 

  1. Physiological (the need for food and shelter) 
  2. Safety (the need for control over finances, health, and security)
  3. Love/belonging (the need for family, community, friends, love, and romance)
  4. Esteem (the need for validation and a sense of self-worth)
  5. Self-actualization (the need to pursue one’s passions and fulfill one’s potential) 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Might Apply to Your Ageing Mother

If your mother’s basic needs, namely her first and second needs, aren’t met, it may be difficult for her to fully enjoy her time with her friends, community, and you. If her third need—for love and belonging—isn’t met, your mother may struggle to feel good about herself or be confident in her abilities, and so on. 

One of the main benefits of retirement residences like All Seniors Care Living Centres is that they are partly designed to fulfill all five of these needs in their residents. 

Let’s look at how.  

How a Retirement Centre May Fulfil Your Ageing Mother’s First Three Needs

If your ageing mother struggles to take her medications and prepare her own meals, then her first two needs—physiological and safety—won’t be met, even if you live in the same town or city as her, and have the time to check in on her and see how she’s doing. 

One of the many potential benefits of living at a retirement residence is that seniors need not worry about their physiologic and safety needs. 

Also, when they live at a retirement residence, they belong to a community, thus fulfilling their third need—the need for love and belonging. 

How a Retirement Centre May Fulfill Your Ageing Mother’s Top Two Needs

The most innovative retirement residences can fulfill their residents’ top two needs—the need for esteem and the need for self-actualization. 

This is because, at these retirement centres, seniors have the time and resources to engage in their passions and dreams. 

If your mother enjoys paintings, for instance, she could take art classes at a retirement centre alongside other retirees with similar interests. 

Spending Time with Your Mother when Her Five Needs are Met

When your mother’s five needs are met, the hours you spend with her might be all the more precious, because she’ll be able to fully enjoy herself. 

With her, you can do the things she loves to do—like painting or visiting art galleries—without needing to worry about her housing, medication, community, and the like.  

In other words, your mother may enjoy the good life when she spends time with you.