Preparing to move home
Requiring care means many decisions to be made; should you move into a residential home, retirement village or sheltered housing? And what if none of these options appeal to you? Care at home has become the solution of choice for many people who find themselves needing extra support but want to remain in their beloved home, and because Helping Hands have over 30 years of experience delivering home care, we’re the company to choose.
A home is so much more than four walls and a roof. You may have lived in your home for many years, raised a family there, shared a life with a beloved partner and made memories in every square foot. Consequently, you may have been very reluctant to leave it, but feel that you had little choice, due to your care needs. With live-in care from Helping Hands though you have the world of choice at your fingertips, meaning if you would rather return to your home and live once more in comfortable and familiar surroundings, you can.
The differences between residential care and live-in care are many, but the most significant is probably the ratio of carers to customers. While carers in residential homes will most likely have several residents to care for at a time, your live-in carer will be delivering one-to-one, personalised care only to you. Care homes also tend to have a high rotation of staff which means you don’t get a chance to know the people who are caring for you, whereas our live-in carers commonly return to the same customer over and again, meaning you get the chance to develop a real relationship with them.
Additionally, your live-in carer will be able to undertake other tasks around your home as well as supporting your care needs. They can assist with basic chores like preparing meals, doing housework and changing the beds, to grocery shopping and collecting prescriptions.
Getting your home ready for a live-in carer
When you’ve decided that you’re going to return to your family home and engage a live-in carer, there are things that you will have to decide upon before they arrive. Firstly, do you have the space for someone else to live in your home with you? Your carer will need their own room so that they have somewhere to sleep and also to relax when on breaks, as well as having access to food preparation areas, a bathroom and somewhere to do their laundry.
It’s important that you are matched with a live-in carer who as closely as possible mirrors your hobbies and interests so that you have plenty to talk about and will in time form a good relationship. At Helping Hands we work tirelessly to find you the perfect live-in carer for you, so that your routines and preferences will always be observed and respected, while your carer supports you to live your best life possible in the home you love.
Making the most of your move
Our fully managed live-in care service ensures that you will always be at the centre of your own care journey, and that you will never regret making the move from residential care back to your own precious home. Once you’re receiving care from us we handle everything, from making sure your new carer has a valid Disclosure and Barring Service clearance through to ensuring their breaks are covered.
Your local manager will always be available in the unlikely case of any issues, so you and your loved ones can have total peace of mind that our live-in care is the perfect service for you. Once you’re back at home if you’ve missed being out in the local community your live-in carer can support you with that too – whether you want to visit the local shops, attend church, or enjoy a trip to the cinema.
Live-in care pricings
You may be thinking that live-in care is much more expensive but that really isn’t the case. Live-in care costs start from £1,650 per week whereas, according to Which, Care home costs are up to £1,041 per week, so considering how much more you get with a live-in carer, they are very comparable. Don’t forget either that we can take care of a couple for only a small amount more than a single person (prices for a couple start at £1,650 per week) whereas two beds in a care home is going to cost double. Funding is available too – see our funding options page.
The benefits of live-in care
Live-in Care from Helping Hands
- Enables you to stay in the comfort of your own home with nurse-led support if needed
- Personal, one-to-one 24-hour care from a dedicated carer
- You dictate your lifestyle and routines
- You have freedom of choice for food
- You won’t be separated from your pets or partner
Residential Care/Care Homes
- Requires moving to a new, unfamiliar environment
- Carers operate on a shift pattern – responsibility is shared across residents
- Change of lifestyle – working to somebody else’s routine
- Set menu and regulated mealtimes
- Pets not always permitted, and partner would stay at home
Find out more about the benefits of live-in care
Please call us today for a bespoke quote, and to find out more about how we could be supporting you or your loved ones to remain in the home you love. Our customer care specialists are available seven days a week to take your call on 0333 060 5364 or alternatively, ask us to call you back.
Page reviewed by Carole Kerton-Church, Regional Clinical Lead on November 23, 2021