Healthcare and nursing care providers often talk about ‘home care’ and ‘domiciliary care’, but what are they exactly, and how to the various services differ?
In short, home care is all about enabling your loved ones to remain in their homes instead of moving into a nursing home, by having professional carers and nurses visit them to support them at home. This involves help with everyday tasks, errands, and even financial matters.
What are the benefits of Home Care?
Choosing home care over a care home will benefit clients in many ways:
- Independence - Depending on the care service and your requirements, home care will enable clients to remain independent in their homes.
- Care - Home care still means high quality, professional care from administering medication to assisting in therapies and helping with running errands.
- Support - Whether a client is recovering from an illness or a stay in hospital, home care can help facilitate this transition, as well as helping manage finances, and everyday domestic tasks.
- Companionship - Home carer can provide clients with social companionship, not only checking if they’re well but also developing a true and caring friendship.
- Peace of Mind - Knowing that one of our home carers is visiting a loved one, will give you peace of mind that they are in good health and well looked after while living independently.
When do you Need Home Care?
This is difficult to answer as every person is different. Relatives, loved ones and health professionals are undoubtedly the best people to rely upon, when deciding whether home care services are necessary. Here are examples that can help you to determine whether someone might benefit from receiving home care:
- Illness - Perhaps you have a loved one who is battling a long term illness, and requires a lot of support and care. In this case, domiciliary care could help them to perform daily tasks, making their everyday life as enjoyable as possible.
- Disability & Mental Health - If your loved one has a disability or mental health issues, complex home care services could be a solution to providing care and support while allowing them to live independently.
- Returning from Hospital - Someone who’s returning from hospital after an operation or recovering from an illness requires additional care and support, which can be provided with hospital to home care by helping them to transition back to their normal lives.
- Dementia & Alzheimer's - Unfortunately, people diagnosed with these diseases can lose the ability to perform simple tasks and look after themselves, but specialised Alzheimer’s care services can provide a lifeline for them.
- Old Age - Elderly care services are designed for clients who are getting older, and could use some support and help with their day to day lives.
What are the different types of Home Care Services?
A wide range of home care services exist, depending on the nature of the additional support that you or a loved one require. It is, however, essential that this service is tailored to personal needs and requirements. This ensures that that the care service fits around existing daily routines to provide support without disrupting habits.
Here are some of the home care services available:
- Domiciliary Care - This is a personal care service for clients battling disability or illness, who struggle with bedroom mobility, bathing, household tasks and more.
- Palliative Care - This kind of care is a type of end-of-life care service, helping people who have been diagnosed with life-threatening or terminal illnesses, while providing emotional care and support.
- Hospital to Home Care - After being discharged from hospital after an injury or illness it can be challenging to return to your regular life. This service is all about helping clients recover, re-adjust and transit back into their old habits.
- Live-In Care - As your loved ones get older, they might find that their needs become complex and need 24 hour care. Having live-in care can be what they need, allowing them to stay in their own homes and out of a care home.
- Night Care - This type of home care service provides clients with support throughout the night, as well as being by their side when falling asleep or waking up.
- Alzheimer’s Care - Our clients who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease require specialist care from professional carers, who are aware of the many and complex challenges of such disease. This enables them to provide the best and most comprehensive care service.
- Dementia Care - Dementia is a cruel illness which can effect anyone and requires specialist care. Similarly to Alzheimer’s, is is a complex illness affecting clients in many different ways.
- Social Companionship Care - This is more about providing companionship and assistance with day to day household chores to clients, making their everyday life easier.
How Much Does Home Care Cost?
The cost of home care can vary greatly, depending on the type of care service, the region you live in and other factors.. From our experience in the industry, home care can cost between £12 per hour to £25 per hour, although again, this can vary greatly depending on the individual.
