To a number of people when they hear the term retirement home, the image that pops into their head is an aged person seated in a rocking chair, staring into oblivion, reminiscing about the good old days. This however is a misconceived notion about the homes. Over time the nursing homes have evolved to a great extent. A number of facilities, features and activities have been incorporated into the homes all with the aim of making the residents enjoy more, feel at home and have fun. It is now common to see residents engaged in more active games and exercises such as attending senior yoga workshops and taking Tai Chi in the morning. This is a big drift from the conventional slow paced game that was once a common feature in a number of homes.

Actually, things have changed so much such that it is now possible to find retirement communities. These homes come in an array of shapes and sizes and they offer various leisure time amenities such as golf courses, field events and recreational centers. Some, such as the aged care in Cairns provide things that residents can do as hobbies in their past time. Such activities would include listening to music, watching movies, knitting lessons, baking and cooking sessions and healthy in house competitions. These activities make the residents come back to life and it is like they are young and vibrant once more. Since the residents are of almost the same age sets and groups they feel at home and like they actually belong. This social acceptance does great wonders to them, after being socially accepted is a basic human need.

The residents in the homes are assigned care givers and housekeepers whose work essentially is to ensure that the residents are comfortable with the retirement living conditions. The housekeeper for instance, would be responsible for the cleaning chores such as tidying the rooms, doing the laundry and basically any other house cleaning responsibility. The care givers on the other hand, are responsible for attending to the specific needs of particular residents. They will be responsible for their grooming, clothing, and feeding. At times the caregivers spend time listening, chatting and exercising with the seniors. It is a requirement that a home should have a dietitian whose work is to ensure that the residents get meals which are beneficial to them and identifies with their specific dietary requirements.

Although at a glance it might seem like it is an unfair thing to do, that is putting a loved in a nursing home, away from the life that they were accustomed to, in the long run it is one of the best decision that a person can make. This is because it reaches a point where a senior resident retires and would require specialized care. A person might not be aware of how to do that and this might be frustrating to both the senior citizen and their loved one. Also the senior citizen would find out that he or she is missing people with whom they can relate. However, by taking the person to a well established and reputed retirement home, the person will be well taken care of by experienced care givers, meet with senior peers and also the family members can drop in for a visit whenever.