The paperwork and research, done early
Visiting more than one option in person, reading the actual service agreement (not just the brochure) for what's included versus billed separately, and understanding the level-of-care assessment process are worth doing well before a move date is set. Confirm your parent's power of attorney for personal care and property is in order and accessible — it matters for both the move itself and anything that comes up afterward.
This is also the point to loop in family members who need to be involved in the decision, before choices get made under time pressure rather than with room to think.
The downsizing, keep-sell-donate in order
Start with what's coming to the new place, since retirement home rooms or suites are almost always smaller than a family house — that's a faster, smaller decision than sorting through everything that's staying behind. What doesn't come splits into sell (anything with real value, worth getting a quote on) and donate (see the note on donating furniture below for where that actually goes locally).
Photos, documents and small sentimental items deserve their own careful pass, separate from the general furniture-and-housewares sort — these are the things that can't be replaced if they get lost in the shuffle.
The emotional transition, and what actually helps it
This move is a genuine loss of independence for most people, even when it's clearly the right decision, and treating it only as a logistics project misses that. Involving the parent in decisions they're still able to make — which pieces of furniture come, which photos go up first — tends to ease the transition more than handling everything on their behalf out of a wish to spare them the stress.
It's also worth being honest that the house decision, if one is coming, doesn't have to happen on the same timeline as the move itself — the two can be sequenced separately once the person is settled and safe.