Without a doubt 24 hour care and Live in care helps elderly people with long-term health conditions maintain a better quality of life, unfortunately, this type of care is associated with the loss of independence, as it is often believed that around the clock care is exclusively provided in care homes.
With up 97% of elderly people preferring to stay at home, live-in care makes it possible for people with long-term and complex health needs to receive the level of care they need without upheaval and disruption.
Live-in care offers a solution for families who’d love their relative to remain at home but are unable to consistently provide the level of support they require. To help you make an informed choice about care, we’ve listed the things you should consider to ensure your home is suitable for a live-in carer.
An available bedroom
Having an available bedroom is one of the most important requirements when considering live-in care. A live-in carer will typically move into the home of the person they are caring for allowing them to provide consistent care throughout the day and night if needed. Live-in carers will typically work for 12 hours, during their working hours a live-in carer may provide assistance with a variety of tasks, for example, help with bathing and washing, cooking and cleaning or taking a person out and about to see friends, families or to attend activities in the community.
A spare room is a must, providing space for your carer to store a few of their belongings and an area where they are able to retreat back to if your request privacy. Ensuring your home has a private room for live-in care will definitely make the arrangement more comfortable for both you and your carer.
Family, friends & partners
One of the leading advantages of live-in care is that not much will change in terms of your routine and living situation – including the people you live with and the people who visit you regularly, in contrast to care homes where it often the case that partners and children become separated – causing undue stress and heartbreak for most.
With care homes often located some distance away from the persons previous home, families and friends may have to travel long journeys in order to be with their loved ones, combined with busy lives and set care home visiting hours, families and friends may not spend as much time as they would like with their loved one.
For elderly couples, the strain of physical separation can induce loneliness and depression for both individuals. The purpose of live-in care is to facilitate choice and control for elderly people, with carers providing the assistance needed to live safely with autonomy. Not only does Live-in care help people maintain the connections they created with their communities over the years it also provides families with a level of peace of mind that is priceless and a reliable care and support network.
Pets & Animals
For many elderly people with pets, the question of how the pet will be cared for if they are no longer able to provide for the animal is a real concern. For people who choose care homes, the very disheartening reality is that pets may have to be re-homed if they cannot be accommodated by families or friends.
This is unique in the fact that pets and animals in the home will also be taken care of by the live-in carer. Your live-in care will carry out some the task below to ensure your pet is happy and health:
- Making sure your pets get the exercise it needs with walks
- Purchasing pet foods, toys, shampoos, and other items they require
- Keeping an eye on your pets health and monitoring its behaviour
- Taking pets to Vet and grooming appointments
- Providing scheduled feeding and water
- Maintain a clean and safe environment for your pet and yourself.
Are you comfortable with Live-in care?
Being a little apprehensive about possibly sharing your home with someone new is completely normal; this is especially true for people who have lived alone for a number of years. Live-in care companies understand this and go the extra miles to ensure their clients are paired with suitable carers – allowing the person to fully enjoy worry-free care.
A live-in care company will consider your likes, dislikes, preferences and character before care begins, rigorous personality analysis of carers will also take place this will identify complementary client/carer matches. Its often the case that the person receiving care is surprised to discover the number of things they have in common with their carer, this is because your interest and passions are also taken into consideration, for instance you may share a love of animals with your carer, a knack for baking or admiration of the outdoors- giving you both a wealth of things to talk about and experiences to share.
Most homes will be suitable for live-in care, requiring little change to your current lifestyle; live-in care companies take great care to provide a safe, comfortable and supportive environment in the home where a person can continue to live life with control over the ever so important small details, choice and independence.
