Imagine a scenario where a loved one desires to age gracefully in the comfort of their own home, yet struggles with daily activities. While solutions such as walk-in baths and walk-in showers exist to make your loved one’s life easier and more comfortable, they may also require someone full-time to look after them and their wellbeing.
This is when live-in care comes into play, providing personalised support that fosters independence and enhances quality of life. As awareness of this option grows, many families are exploring how live-in care can meet their specific needs.
This comprehensive guide delves into the essentials of live-in care services, understanding how they work and the benefits of using them.
What is Live-In Care?
Live-in care involves professional carers living with the care receiver, providing essential support within the comfort of their own home. This ensures the highest quality of life by allowing individuals to remain in their own homes and maintain their daily routines. Live-in carers help with various care needs, from basic assistance of personal hygiene to complex care for chronic conditions or palliative care which are more hands-on.
The Live-in Care Company is an excellent source for all your live-in care requirements and also offers many helpful guides on related topics that families may wish to explore.
Types of Live-In Care
There are various types of care that professional carers are able to offer depending on your requirements:
- Personal Care: Hands-on assistance with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and grooming, prioritising the individual’s dignity and comfort.
- Continual Care: A continual presence and support, ensuring safety and assistance with around the clock, offering peace of mind.
- Respite Care: Temporary care while regular carers take a break, maintaining continuity of care and the recipient’s daily life without interruption.
- Incontinence Care: Specialised support for those with bladder or bowel conditions.
- Live-in Dementia Care: Tailored care for those with dementia, focusing on creating a calming and familiar environment.
- Domiciliary Care: Customised care plans provided in the person’s own home, allowing for independence with the necessary level of care support.
- Palliative Care: Comfort-focused care for individuals with life-limiting conditions, aiming to relieve symptoms and stress.
- Overnight Care: For those who need assistance when waking up or sleeping night care.
What Do Live-In Carers Do?
Key Responsibilities of Live-in Carers:
- Personal Hygiene Care: Attending to personal hygiene is a basic need that most clients will need including bathing, dressing, and oral hygiene care.
- Hair, Eye, Dental, and Foot Care: Routine care such as hair styling, eye care, dental hygiene, and foot care to promote overall well-being.
- Meal preparation: Ensuring breakfast, lunch and dinner are always available according to dietary needs.
- Medication management: Dispensing, administering, and record-keeping for proper medication use.
- Companionship: Planning outings and activities, ensuring quality of care extends beyond the home.
- Mobility assistance: Helping with movement, lifting and transfers from bed to chair.
- Consistency of care: Consistent care is mostly given by one carer, giving you peace of mind.
The Live-in Care Company’s service ensures that those who may struggle with daily tasks still have the opportunity to enjoy their life with the dignity and respect that they deserve. By developing a personalised care plan based on the specific needs of your loved one, live-in carers can address the level of care required.
5 Key Benefits of Live-In Care
These are several advantages of having a Live-In Carer, these are the main ones:
- Physical Benefits: Live-in carers are able to assist with personal care ensuring the safety and physical well-being of loved ones. They can help with mobility, medication management, and other tasks requiring physical strength.
- Health Benefits: A constant presence means live-in care can quickly adapt to health changes, providing support that contributes to overall well-being and can sometimes lead to improved health.
- Companionship & Social Benefits: Live-in carers can support mental and social engagement, maintaining the individual’s connection to their community and improving their mental wellbeing.
- Continuity and quality of care: Care is consistent, with a dedicated carer or team who work throughout the day to ensure your loved one is always cared for and safe.
- Personalised care plan: Care is tailored to individual preferences and requirements.
How Much Does Live-In Care Cost?
Live-in care costs can vary depending on a range of factors. Generally, live-in care can be more cost-effective than a care home.
Cost Factors:
- Level of Care Needed: Different types of care involving specific medical needs can vary in cost.
- Location: Care cost may be higher in certain areas due to demand.
- Provider: Private care agencies charge different rates and offer slightly different levels of service.
- Home Adaptations: in certain circumstances, it will be necessary to make adjustments to the home environment to make it safer and more useable for both carers and the person receiving care. Some of the key areas needing attention will be accessible bathrooms. Specialists like Absolute Mobility are dedicated to providing accessible bathrooms based on your needs. For more information about Absolute Mobility and what solutions are available to utilise in cases with live-in carers, continue reading or watch here.
Remember to conduct care assessments and consult with care agencies to understand the exact cost for their specific situation.
Health Conditions and Live-In Care
Live-in care can greatly assist in dealing with a variety of health conditions by providing high-quality care entirely within their home environment. Below is a list of health conditions that live-in carers are commonly equipped to support:
- Dementia: Ensuring safety and offering mental stimulation.
- Arthritis: Helping with mobility and personal care.
- Motor Neurone Disease: Assisting with complex care needs.
- Stroke Recovery: Supporting rehabilitation and daily life activities.
- Heart Disease Care: Lifestyle monitoring and medication management.
- Multiple Sclerosis: Adapting care plans as the condition progresses.
- Osteoporosis: Preventing falls and aiding with movement.
Why do People Choose Live in Care?
People choose residential care for numerous reasons, it allows individuals or couples the freedom and comfort to stay together in a familiar home environment, ensuring they maintain their daily routine and quality of life without drastic changes.
Additionally, live-in care is a favourable option for those just discharged from the hospital or recovering from an illness, as it provides them with essential care and support exactly when they need it the most. By opting for a live-in care service, clients can receive high-quality care, from basic assistance to more complex care needs, with a personalised care plan that is tailored to their specific conditions and preferences.
The continuity of care that live-in carers provide is invaluable, but it can also be more affordable than a residential care facility, especially for couples.
Live-in Care Companies vs Care Homes – Which is Better?
Live-in care and care homes offer different approaches to assisting loved ones with their needs.
Live-in care companies:
- Provides one-on-one bespoke care packages tailored to the individual’s daily routine.
- Ensures continuity of care, which can be vital for complex care or palliative care scenarios.
- Enables individuals to stay in their own homes, preserving their daily life and surroundings.
- It can be more costly due to the intensive hands-on care throughout the day, but live-in care cost can be justified by the exclusive attention.
Care homes:
- Offers a community-style setting with care services provided by professional carers in a controlled environment.
- Care plans are designed to cater to all residents, which might mean less individual customisation compared to live-in care.
- Beneficial for those seeking social interaction and do not require intensive one-on-one care.
- Less continuity of care as many care homes make extensive use of agency staff and full-time staff turnover can be high.
Choosing a Care Provider
- Care agencies conduct care assessments to establish care cost and requirements that your loved one will need.
- Care packages vary, and agencies can offer different levels of care depending on the needs identified in the care assessment.
- It’s important to ensure the chosen provider is reputable and offers high-quality and consistent care by reading reviews of the company on Trustpilot or Google reviews.
- Make sure you feel comfortable with the live-in carer who you have selected before they start working with your loved one to avoid any confusing changes down the line.
Finding the right live-in carer for your loved one can be daunting, but with so many professional and compassionate agencies out there it’s difficult not to find the right one. The Live-in Care Company takes pride in what they do, and would love to hear from anyone that is interested in hiring a live-in carer.
