People’s need for care varies considerably based on their age, state of health, cause of illness and whether or not they have to fend for themselves. For some the support of a spouse or family member may be sufficient but for others either such support is not available or becomes increasingly insufficient. To accommodate such differences a full range of care services have developed to provide people with just as much or as little help as they require.

The following is a brief outline of just some of many available.

Domiciliary Care - Ranges from Local social services help including Meals on Wheels, home help and assistive devices through to hiring the help of carers/nurses to visit just ½ hour a day to help you get dressed in the morning, or to even live in. Daily care can cost as a rough guide £13.00 per hour (Source ; FSA guide Paying for care April 2006)

• Respite Care - Full time cover on a temporary basis. This offers carer a break by either:
  Arranging a temporary replacement to look after the patient while the carer goes on holiday.Or
• Arranging for the patient to have a temporary stay in a home. -This method can be a particularly useful way of seeing whether the patient would be happy in a home.

Either of these can be arranged by first getting a needs assessment carried out by your local Social Services department of your Local Authority.

If living in your old home starts to become difficult but you are not ready to move into a care home there is a wide range of specialist accommodation now available offering varying levels of assistance.

Sheltered Housing / “Retirement Homes” - Characterised by the McCarthy and Stone type of developments, but also offered by some councils These offer independent living but with help on hand in the form of emergency cords and a warden to summon help if necessary. Such wardens may be full time or only on call during normal office hours.

Extra Care – Differs from the above in the sense that 24-hour care is on hand.

Assisted Living – An increasingly popular way, offers a home-like caring environment but they are not Residential or Nursing Homes. They are designed for semi -independent living in either independent or shared accommodation suites, but with trained care on hand to help with daily activities and meals available in an a la carte type restaurant. Such developments may also offer some organised social occasions.

Residential or Nursing Homes - Care providing by professional carers in a residential home. It can be either run by the Local Authority or Privately. . A care home offering just residential care is primarily aimed at those who need greater security and help with just personal care needs – bathing feeding, toileting and moving around. . Should actual nursing be required including ongoing dressing of wounds, and administration of drugs then a Nursing Home will be advised.
Once the right level of care has been identified, you will be allowed (if you want) to choose the right home, and this should be a matter of matching your individual needs and preferences to those available. For help on how to choose a home please go to our Choice of Home page where a free of charge checklist is available to be downloaded, printed off and to use when you visit homes.