Elderly Care: Know Your Options

Find out about the different types of elderly care available, and tips for arranging care so you can put the right care in place for your needs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Different Types Of Social Care Available
Live-in Care
Residential Care Homes
Nursing Homes
Sheltered Accommodation
The Importance Of Finding The Right Elderly Care
Starting A Conversation About Care
An Ageing Population
Key Issues With Residential Care Homes
The Future Of Elderly Care
Important Questions To Ask When You Look For Later Life Care

Wife walking with husband - living with dementia

Elderly care is something that, for most of us, we may need to consider as part of growing older. Although we might strive to be the healthiest, the most mobile and social version of ourselves, there are many reasons why care can become part of our lives. A stroke, a fall, an unexpected illness – things can just happen that mean we need a little help to lead our best lives during recovery or to stay independent if possible.

Luckily, there are options if you need care, or you want to help a loved one receive the help that they need to live independently. Live-in care, home care, domiciliary care, companion care, care homes, sheltered accommodation and respite care are all types of support that could work well for your needs.

The most important thing is to find the right option for your needs. The kind of assistance that will enable you to have the later life you want and deserve. To help you understand the options available, here is some useful information to help you get a really good start on your research into this important decision.

The Different Types Of Social Care Available

If you need just a little extra support with daily tasks then there are options such as visiting care, domiciliary care, respite care or a home help. For additional support or complex needs, here is an overview of the main elderly care types available: live-in care, nursing home, residential homes and sheltered accommodation.

Live-in Care

This is where a professional carer lives in your home 24/7 and provides support to you or your relative. It enables a person to remain in the place they love the most (perhaps with some home adaptations), whilst remaining safe and as independent as possible. Carers will cook, provide company, help clients to get exercise, socialise, visit friends, take their medicine on time, get to appointments, remain mobile, stay clean and dressed and comfortable. They will likely provide light cleaning as well and sometimes also nursing care.

This type of 24/7 support in the home works around the needs of the client and additional services can be provided for complex needs at additional cost. Dementia support, help with pets and gardening, accompaniment on holiday are just some of the other additional services offered.

Residential Care Homes

A care home has staff on hand 24 hours a day and assistants who help residents with personal care. Meals are also provided as well as a maintained bedroom and bathroom, social areas and often, daily activities. A client will live in a care home full time and the schedule they are part of is usually the same for all residents.

Nursing Homes

A nursing home is like a care home but registered nurses are on site to provide nursing support through the day and night. Residents usually have a complex medical condition that means they require frequent medical support.

Sheltered Accommodation

Sheltered accommodation is designed for the elderly when they want to remain independent but they might require access to support from time to time. It is likely to come in the form of a flat or bungalow within a communal facility.

The accommodation will have buzzers or instant access phones to summon help if it is needed. There may also be a range of other amenities such as a meals service, visits from staff, communal activities and help with things like cleaning.

The Importance Of Finding The Right Elderly Care

Elderly care services available in the UK consist of some great options, including nursing care, respite care and overnight care for all types of health conditions. However, each and every care and support option will not be right for everyone. Therefore, finding the right care for you is really important. Here are just a few reasons that finding the right care is important:

This is your future, you deserve to be happy
Your relatives will want the peace of mind that you are safe
The help you choose will impact the type of later life you live – how do you envisage your golden years?
Your choice will impact whether you can remain with a loved one, or with your pets
Knowing the preferred option means you can plan financially for the cost
The support you receive can have a direct impact on your health
The type of care you choose will dictate where you live
Choosing the right option means taking control of your future, something that you can do
Choosing the right care in advance means it is all in place should you have a medical change in circumstances.

There are many reasons that finding the right care is important, but it really just comes down to the kind of later life that you want to lead. With the right care you can have the golden years you have always envisioned, there is no need to compromise, you are in control.

Starting A Conversation About Care

There are lots of reasons to start a conversation about care with those that you love. Maybe you need to speak to a parent about the care they need, or you yourself need care and you want to discuss it with your children.

It is a sensitive topic and it can turn into a very awkward exchange if it isn’t handled as such.

It is a really important part of finding the right care though so it is something that must happen as soon as a care plan is being considered. Everybody needs to be on board and in agreement about the care plan for it to work properly, because it can be a very emotional time for all involved. If everyone is well-informed, everybody is able to help and the process can be as seamless as is possible. Here are our top tips for having a conversation about care:

Respect that it is a sensitive topic
Time when the subject is approached i.e. not in a loud cafe when the grandchildren are there
Allow more than one conversation to happen as it might be too tense or difficult to talk about in one go
Ensure everybody who should be involved in the conversation is involved, people can feel hurt if they are left out of such an important process
Respect the wishes of those needing care as a top priority; they may be feeling particularly vulnerable at this time
Try to understand what you hope to get out of the conversation, is it clarity? A care plan? An understanding of how everybody feels?
Try not to take anything personally, emotions are heightened
Try to think positively about later life care, as it can be the key to a fulfilling later stage of life if chosen properly

Obviously, the conversation is going to be tricky, emotional and challenging, but it can be very rewarding as long as everybody stays respectful of one another. The ultimate goal is that the family member needing help can lead a healthy, happy life and that can be achieved with the help of the whole family.

Don’t simply retire from something; have something to retire to. Harry Emerson Fosdick

The importance of finding care is often underestimated, until a life-changing event causes us to quickly have to make a decision. The more aware you are of the care options that are available, the better you will be able to navigate this challenging part of life.

Do your research, have conversations about care and think really carefully about what you want. You deserve the kind of later life you imagine, and you can get that with the right type of care for your needs.

If you are in any doubt about making such an important decision remember that you can always start with domiciliary care to assist you with personal care visits and housekeeping services to give you the breathing space to think through your decision with no pressure.

An Ageing Population

It is no secret that the population of the UK is rapidly getting older as our healthcare improves. In some areas, as many as 1 in 3 people are aged over 65 and those numbers will continue to grow as the population continues to age. With an increase in older people naturally comes an increased need for elderly care and nursing care for the older person.

It is important to realise that the average age of the population is different in different parts of the UK, and so some areas are affected more by the need for elderly care than others.

In London, most shops and restaurants are accessible to those with mobility issues and there is plenty of transport and support for those with care needs. Despite this, the amount of older people living in London is actually quite low.

The South West of the country, on the other hand, tends to have a high number of over 65’s at present and that amount is growing. This is partly because of retirement communities, but also a lack of younger people moving to this area and local young people moving away for better job prospects. Populations in the South West then are growing older more than growing larger.

The most important aspect of care in areas like this are the local services because those who are very old struggle to get to larger amenities that require a care or public transport to reach. In these areas live-in care can be a true life-saver for residents who are remote but who wish to remain in their own homes in later life.

In Wales, there are also larger numbers of elderly residents compared to other regions particularly in less built-up areas, and similar pressure on local services remains because of residents who live remotely. The most urban areas of Wales however show a different picture with the least number of elderly residents in these areas.

Bespoke Elderly Care for individual needs

In the East Midlands and West Midlands the demographic is much more diverse and one city to the next will differ hugely in how many elderly residents live there. East Anglia has one of the highest populations of elderly people, as does Yorkshire and some areas of the Northwest, such as Blackpool. In the Northeast roughly 1 in 5 people are elderly but the statistics also show that the number is set to rise to 1 in 4 in as little as 20 years.

In Scotland the highest number of elderly people are within the most heavily populated areas. The most remote parts of Scotland can be many miles away from any medical help, and so many people relocate to areas where help and services can be accessed with ease.

The statistics tell us that the population is getting older very quickly, and additional support is definitely a problem in that it is lacking in most places. Specifically, those in the most rural areas really do need more readily available care. As it stands, many struggle even getting to local services and as the number of elderly people across the UK grows, the pressure on the few services there are will continue to rise.

Care and support in the home is an excellent option for these remote areas, and for any area where the pressure on social care services is causing the elderly to miss out on the quality of life they deserve. Understanding the pressure on the care services currently available is really important when looking into your own care, because you get an idea of how difficult it might be to find a place within a preferred care home in the future, for instance.

Key Issues With Residential Care Homes

Unfortunately, as the population grows older, more pressure is being placed on the existing care home system. Many people are not currently getting the kind of care that they need and, therefore, aren’t having the quality of life that they expect, because care home places are not available in their area.

Nobody wants to think of anybody struggling to get basic needs met like going up and down the stairs, getting out of bed, washing and dressing, and having a meal prepared. Unfortunately the figures show that many people are struggling alone or only with the help of family.

Fortunately a care home is not the only option, as many of our European neighbours have long realised. In many other countries elderly care usually means professional care in your own home. Here in the UK the default position is to look for a care home, but that isn’t a viable option in some regions.

The Future Of Elderly Care

When looking into elderly care, you hope you or your loved one can receive care which meets basic needs but also enables you to live comfortably and happily.

At the moment, many people are cared for in their own home by family members but it’s less common for a trained carer to be fulfilling this role in the home. More people are cared for in nursing homes, residential homes, or they live in sheltered accommodation. With the increase in the elderly population, as mentioned above, the care system has to adapt.

More care homes, more care at home, more sheltered accommodation and better preventative care are all great solutions to help the future look brighter for all of us.

live-in care is the future of elderly care

There is the possibility of better technology in the future to help but nothing is developed enough to truly enhance the lives of the elderly right now, or within the next decade at least.

Elderly care at home, on the other hand, is available right now. It is affordable for many people and it is something that does not require a ‘space’ to become free for someone to receive the help they need. Even better it means that people are able to remain in their own home, where necessary wit home adaptations.

The future of care requires more options for those needing support as that demand cannot be met by care homes alone. Elderly care in your own house is sustainable, easy and quick to arrange, and in some cases the full cost can be funded by the local council subject to an NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment. There is plenty of evidence to show it results in elderly people being happier, healthier and more independent long-term. (See our Better At Home report for more information)

Important Questions To Ask When You Look For Later Life Care

When you are looking for later life care it can be difficult – whether it is for yourself or a loved one. You have to get the timing right, it can be an emotional time, you have to get the right advice in order to choose the right type of care.

Luckily there are lots of companies and residences providing care so there is choice available. It is very daunting though, so we have compiled a few useful questions for you to ask when you are considering later life care. The questions can be applied to care agencies, sheltered accommodation, care homes and nursing homes.

Do They Have A Good Reputation?

The reputation of the facility or the homecare company providing the care really does say a lot. Of course people are more likely to say something negative rather than something positive but, if there is a large amount of criticism for the same sorts of things, then it pays to pay attention.

Where Is The Care Home/ Care Company?

The location of the care home is so important, because it affects how often friends and family can come to visit. It also enables you or your loved one not to feel a million miles away from the place they love. Days out can be within the local community, which is so important in terms of holding on to identity.

With an agency, it is also very useful if the company is nearby. With something as important as care, it really makes a difference to speak to somebody face to face. When arranging care and if there are any issues it is good to be able to speak to somebody in person.

Are Nutritional Needs Met?

A high number of elderly people are malnourished or at risk of being malnourished which can lead to all kinds of medical problems. Does the residential care home ensure the nutritional health of their residents?

Will the carer be able to prepare meals and snacks that will ensure your loved one stays healthy? Are personal preferences taken into account? What if the person in receipt of care is vegetarian or halal?

How Do You Ensure Quality Of Life?

What efforts go into enhancing the quality of life of the person receiving care? Socialising, organised activities, community groups, phone calls or Skype calls with loved ones and friends, the opportunity for expression, conversation – how does the carer or residential home ensure quality of life for their clients?

How Do You Ensure That Your Clients Stay Healthy?

Do you include exercise programmes, physiotherapy and other events or activities to ensure that your clients remain healthy? Do you offer medication support? Help with personal care and other day to day tasks?

What Is The Daily Life Of A Client Like?

Are there set mealtimes and bedtimes for instance? How do you enhance the life of your clients? Are there set visiting times?

How Do You Choose Staff?

Do you train your staff? Are they CRB checked? What qualifications do they have? Are they given training regularly so they are always up to date with care skills? Do you offer specialist care, such as dementia care, with staff who are trained and experienced?

And don’t forget about your own first impressions – they do count and you will have an instinctive feeling about the care agency or home you are looking into. What do you feel about them? Do you like the people you are speaking to? Could you see yourself or your loved one feeling happy in the care of that company? Do residents/clients seem genuinely happy?

Sources:

Expert Author – Tiggy Bradshaw

Tiggy has more than 20 years’ experience in the care sector and is the award winning CEO of Access Care, a company that specialises in providing peace of mind to families across the UK by recruiting and introducing the finest carers to live-in people’s own homes. Tiggy has many different roles all of which are performed with acute attention to detail and with customer service as the highest priority.