Types of Elderly Care Explained: A Guide for Families
When the time comes to seek care for an elderly family member, you need to be sure that the type of elderly care you choose not only promotes their health and keeps them safe, but also enables them to enjoy a good quality of life and remain as independent as possible.
Our guide to the types of elderly care available in the UK will help you to make an informed decision about the right care option to suit your loved one’s needs and preferences.
Why understanding elderly care options is important
Elderly care can feel like a bit of a taboo subject – no-one likes to think about getting older and needing support to live their daily life, but not talking about it in advance can make it harder to understand the best course of action when the time comes.
Having a good understanding of elderly care options will help to make decision-making easier, and ensure that your loved ones receives care that supports them to continue to live the life they choose.
Types of elderly care explained
There is a common misconception that ‘elderly care’ means moving into a residential care home. Whilst this is one of the care options available, there are also plenty of other types of elderly care to choose from.
Home care for seniors
Home care, which is sometimes referred to as ‘domiciliary care’, simply means receiving support in your own home. Whether you live in a property which you own or rent, or reside in a supported living or Extra Care Housing (ECH) scheme, home care involves a carer visiting you at home to provide a pre-agreed level of support.
This support can be with household chores, such as cleaning, grocery shopping or meal preparation; with personal care such as supporting you with washing and dressing; or with support to help you get out and about in the community, for example to attend medical appointments.
The great thing about receiving elderly care at home, is that the support you receive is tailored to helping you to remain independent within your familiar surroundings. You can discuss the particular type of support that you need with your care provider, and agree how often a member of their care team will visit you.
There is often also the flexibility to change the frequency or length of your home care visits (subject to availability) should your needs change. This can be especially useful if a family member usually supports with your care and is going to be away, meaning that you need a little extra help at home for a period of time.
Day care and respite care for the elderly
Two other useful care options to consider are elderly respite care and day care – both of which can act as a helpful ‘add-on’ to a package of home care to help you to remain safe and independent at home for longer, or work as a standalone care solution.
Day care and respite breaks both take place within a residential care home, providing the opportunity to experience what is on offer on a short-term or ad-hoc basis.
Day care is much as it sounds – the option to spend the day in the care home, receive specialist care, enjoy a cooked meal and take part in activities with residents at the home. As well as providing the opportunity for enrichment and companionship in a safe environment, supported by expert carers, people often view day care as a break for family carers.
Short-term respite care for the elderly extends the day care principle, and is a stay of a few days or weeks in a residential care home. Elderly respite care can work well as a change of scene which includes specialist care, or as a means of recuperation following illness or injury.
Emergency respite care for elderly individuals can also help to meet an urgent care need in unforeseen circumstances, helping to ensure that the necessary specialist support is in place.
All Somerset Care residential care homes offer private respite care for the elderly, helping to meet a short-term care need in comfortable and well-equipped environments.
Care home options
If an individual’s care needs progress to a point where they can no longer be safely cared for at home, or via respite breaks and day care, the logical next step is to explore care home options.
Somerset Care homes offer three different types of elderly care:
- Residential care – support with personal care and daily tasks within a residential care home, where all laundry, household chores and meals are taken care of for you. All Somerset Care homes are also ‘dementia-friendly’, meaning that they can support individuals with low-level dementia care requirements.
- Dementia care – all of the benefits of residential care, with added specialist support for those living with dementia, in a safe and stimulating environment which helps people to live well with progressing dementia care symptoms.
- Nursing care – all of the benefits of residential care, along with hospital-standard nursing care delivered by fully-qualified nurses. This is ideal for supporting those living with chronic or long-term health conditions, who can be supported in a more homely and comfortable environment than a hospital setting.
Individuals living with a progressive condition often chose a care home option which offers both residential care and specialist dementia or nursing care, to suit their needs. Planning ahead means that they will not need to move to a different care home, should their care needs increase.
How to choose the right type of care
With so many different types of elderly care available, the chances are that there is the perfect option to suit you and your family. However, with so much choice it can also be difficult to know where to begin your care search.
Start by making a note of all the things that you are looking for support with, and think about where you would ideally like to receive this support – i.e. at home or in a residential care home. Is this an ongoing need, or a current requirement to meet a particular set of circumstances? Are you expecting your care needs to increase over time?
Once you have a good idea of the type of support you need, do some research to find a registered and regulated care provider in your local area. As well as visiting the care provider’s website, it can be helpful to visit several other sources to find out what the care provider offers, what people think of it, and how they are rated by the Care Quality Commission. Also seek out independently-verified customer reviews on sites like carehome.co.uk and homecare.co.uk, to find out what the experience is like for people using their care services.
Arranging elderly care
Somerset Care is a not-for-profit care provider, registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission. With 22 residential care homes across Somerset and Devon, and home care teams operating across Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire and B&NES, we are confident that we will be able to support you to find the solution that meets your needs.
Our experienced and knowledgeable Enquiries Team can help to provide the information you need to reach an informed decision about care options for yourself or a loved one.
For impartial advice and information tailored to your needs, please call 0800 8174 990 or click on the links below.
Curious about our care options?
Our aim is to make what can be an overwhelming and emotional journey as reassuring and straightforward as possible. Please contact our friendly Enquiries Team for expert care advice and to explore the support options available for you and your loved one.
