Finding a care home for yourself or a loved one can be a complex process. This guide provides clear steps and essential information to help you navigate this important decision.
Here’s what you’ll find:
- Key factors to consider: Budget, type of care needed, location, and available options.
- Practical steps: Creating a shortlist, researching reviews, and visiting care homes.
- Important questions to ask: Advice on the types of questions to ask a care home.
By following these steps and gathering comprehensive information, you can make an informed and confident choice about the best care home for your loved one.
Understanding the Cost of Care Homes
Financing a care home placement involves various factors, including:
- Individual needs: the type and level of care required can significantly impact costs.
- Personal finances: Income, savings, and assets influence your financial contribution.
- Government assistance: Depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible for financial support from the government.
It is important to fully understand the financial implications when choosing a care home. There are tools available to help you estimate what this may look like, however we recommend speaking with care homes directly to gain full insight into costings, as it will depend on the individual’s circumstances.
Choosing the Right Care Level
Determining the appropriate level of care for your loved one is important. Some of the common care options are:
- Residential care: Assists with daily activities like bathing, dressing, and medication management. This is suitable for individuals needing some support but maintaining a level of independence.
- Nursing care: Offers 24/7 medical care from qualified nurses for individuals with complex health needs.
- Dementia care: Specialised care catering to those with dementia, ensuring safety, support, and activities tailored to their specific needs.
- Respite care: Provides temporary care and support, offering relief to primary caregivers.
When considering care home options, you should consider both current and future needs. Assess your loved one’s physical, cognitive, and emotional needs, both present and anticipated.
Evaluate the level of independence they have, this could include the degree of assistance they require with daily activities and take into consideration any existing medical conditions.
By carefully assessing your loved one’s needs and exploring available care options, you can ensure they receive the most appropriate level of support in a care home setting.
Finding the Right Location and Ensuring Care Availability
Location plays a crucial role in choosing a care home. It’s worth considering the following factors when finding a care home:
- Proximity to family and friends: Frequent visits can boost well-being, so consider how close the care home is to loved ones.
- Accessibility: Ensure the location is easily accessible by car or public transport.
- Local amenities: Access to nearby shops, parks, and community centres can enhance the quality of life.
When you’ve identified suitable locations, you should then consider the availability of the type of care your loved one will require. You can do this by contacting the homes directly to enquire about vacancies, ask about waiting list times, and allow you to consider alternative options in your preferred area.
Once you have found availability in your preferred locations, you can consider your short list of care homes in greater depth and move on to more practical elements in your journey to finding a care home.
Explore your nearest Avery care home today using our easy to navigate tool.
Checking Care Home Reviews and Authority Reports for Informed Decision Making
Once you’ve narrowed down your choice of care homes, you can carefully consider the reviews and reports available to provide additional insight. Key resources to consider are:
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) Reports: The CQC inspect and rate care homes in England, providing insight into the overall quality of care, safety and effectiveness of services, responsiveness to residents’ needs, and leadership and manageme These rating should be clearly stated on the care home website.
- Online reviews: Read reputable reviews on websites such as carehome.co.uk, both positive and negative reviews can help you gain a balanced perspective.
While reviews and reports are valuable to your decision-making process when choosing a care home, they should not be the sole basis for your decision. You can combine this information with your own thoughts and feelings in order to come to the best decision for your loved one.
Checking Care Home Reviews and Authority Reports
When finding a care home, many people will ask for advice and reviews from people they know, which is always a good place to start if looking for a care home locally. However, researching care home reviews and official care home ratings is also a very good idea.
The CQC (Care Quality Commission) website will provide reviews and ratings of many homes across the country. Alternatively, each care home should have links to direct care home reviews, which may aid you in making a final decision when finding a care home.
Scheduling Effective Care Home Visits
Visiting shortlisted care homes is an essential step in choosing the right setting for your loved one. To make the most of your visits, you can consider doing the following:
- Contact shortlisted care homes: Call or submit online enquiries to schedule visits at convenient times.
- Inform them of the care needs required: Briefly explain what the care requirements will be and any specific questions you have.
- Arrange multiple visits: Schedule visits at different times of the day and with those supporting you with the decision.
Prior to your visits, it’s beneficial to create a list of questions to ask around care services, the facilities, policies, and costs. Visiting the care homes firsthand allows you to observe the environment, interact with staff and residents, and take notes and pictures while asking your important questions.
By following these steps, you can gain valuable insights into the care home’s environment, staff interaction, and overall suitability for your loved one’s needs.
We hope that our guide to choosing a care home has been helpful. If you require any further information about the types of care available or are interested in any of the Avery care homes across the UK, please get in touch with our friendly team today.
