Live in care at Home – Elderly home care blog

1. There’s No Place Like Home

As people get older, their home tends to become even more precious to them. Any move away from this familiar environment, for example a holiday in a hotel, or even a short stay at the home of a son or daughter, can make them feel confused and disorientated. It is remarkable, however, how quickly they perk up when they return to the comfort of their own home!

Living in their own home, surrounded by familiar furniture, pictures, photographs and other objects, provides older people with a physical and emotional anchor and helps maintain their sense of identity.

In contrast, uprooting people and moving them into residential care can lead to a sense of confusion and hasten memory loss. Some older people can become depressed and apathetic and may even lose all sense of purpose when they are moved into a care home.

Furthermore, many older people still have a pet and the prospect of having to abandon their much loved cat or dog because they are moving into a care home can leave them feeling bereft and heart-broken.

2. Staying in Control of Your Life

Where older people remain in their own home, they maintain a sense of being in control of their own lives. They are able to determine their own daily routine and decide for themselves what time to get up and go to bed, what to eat and drink and what programmes to watch on television.

If they have had a long day on a Sunday, perhaps involving a trip out with members of their family, they can have a lie-in on the Monday without anyone expecting them to get up at a particular time, as would happen in a care home. This ability to continue to making decisions for themselves and stay in control of their life is important in helping older people to maintain their morale and remain in good psychological and spiritual health.

3. Support & Companionship

A good live-in carer will quickly gain an understanding of the person they are looking after and will be sensitive to their feelings and moods. They will learn what to say and do to cheer them up if they are feeling low, but just as important, they will develop a sense of when they want company and when they want to be on their own for a time.

A good carer will come to be valued as much for their companionship as for their care skills and many will find themselves treated almost like a member of the family. In a care home, on the other hand, there are just too many staff, each with too much to do, for individual patients to establish a close personal rapport with anyone.

4. Help with Personal Needs

Where an older person is suffering from painful arthritis or has other mobility problems, their carer will be able to help with their personal needs, such as dressing, washing and going to the toilet. A good carer will know how to offer their support in a sensitive and inobtrusive way, in order to preserve as far as possible the privacy and dignity of the person they are caring for. Furthermore, the help will be given as soon as it is needed, unlike in a care home, where patients will have their personal needs attended to at times which suit the busy routine of the care assistants.

5. House-Keeping

Eyesight and mobility problems will often prevent older people from maintaining the same standards of house-keeping as they did in their younger days. A live-in carer will keep the house clean and tidy, clear up any accidents or spillages and make sure that food stored in the fridge or larder is not kept longer than it should be. A clean and tidy house is more pleasant for the person being cared for and more welcoming for family and friends who visit or come to stay.

6. Shopping & Cooking

As part of the care needs assessment which takes place before the start of a live-in care service, a person receiving care at home will be asked in details about their likes and dislikes in terms of main meals, snacks and beverages and carers will always try to buy the food they like and cook it in the way they like it. Provided with meals they have chosen themselves and able to eat at a time which suits them, most older people will enjoy their food more and will tend to eat better than if they are offered the often unappetising food served up in care homes, which patients are often expected to eat much earlier in the day than they are used to at home in order to meet the home’s busy daily routine.

7. Social Contact

When an older person still lives in their own home, it is much easier for family, friends and neighbours to drop in, even for a few minutes, than if they have moved into a care home, where visiting times are restricted and quiet facilities limited. Moreover, visiting someone in their own home is a much more pleasant experience for family and friends than visiting them in a care home, where there is little privacy and where they are just one patient among many.

Wherever practicable carers will encourage the person they are caring for to invite round and entertain family, friends and neighbours on a regular basis. The carer will help them plan and prepare the refreshments and will then melt into the background, so that the client can enjoy their traditional role as host. By contrast, entertaining in care homes can be fraught with difficulties because of problems with visiting hours, catering and the lack of facilities for visitors.

8. Health & Medication

Once an elderly person who has previously lived on their own starts receiving live-in care, their health as well as their quality of life will generally start to improve. They tend to feel happier and more secure, they generally eat better and they may take more exercise; even more significantly, they start taking their medication more regularly, something which often falls by the wayside when they are struggling to cope with living on their own. Taking regular medication can often lead to significant improvements in their health and well-being, which in itself will give their family greater peace of mind. People cared for in their own home generally enjoy a better quality of life and may therefore live longer than people who move into residential care.

9. Protection from Accident or Harm

With the support of a carer at their side to help them if need be with the more demanding physical tasks in life (getting dressed, bathing and/or showering, moving about the house, night-time visits to the toilet etc), people receiving care at home are less likely to suffer falls or other accidents and are also less vulnerable to burglars or intruders. They will feel safer, more relaxed, more confident and, in all likelihood, happier in themselves. Furthermore, the knowledge that an ageing parent, who was previously struggling to cope with living on their own, is at less risk of accident or harm can be a huge relief to their children, who may live too far away to be regularly on hand.

10.Trips and Outings

Where appropriate carers can be provided who drive and this will enable the person receiving care to go on trips and outings. They may want to attend church or be driven to see family and friends or visit a local beauty spot. Such outings can be important in helping maintain contact with the outside world and keep their spirits up. By contrast, once people have moved into a nursing home, they often become so institutionalised that they rarely want to venture beyond the confines of the garden, even if given the opportunity to do so.