When it comes to finding out more about home care options, you may be wondering ‘what is live in care?’ and whether it would be the right choice for you and your family. In this blog post, we will talk about what live in care is, its benefits and why it might be a better alternative to care homes.
We also wanted to take the time to raise awareness about live in care, as we feel that not many people may know much about it and how it can enable you to live your later years to the fullest whilst receiving the best care that you need and deserve.
Live In Care Explained
Live in care means that a specially trained carer will come and live with you and provide you with the 24/7 care and support that you need in the comfort and familiarity of your own home. A carer will enable you to carry on living independently and doing the things you love.
The primary role of a live in carer is to ensure that your care needs are met on a daily basis. They are on hand from the moment you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night and everything in between.
Care at home is a personal requirement and the beauty of it is that the service you receive can be tailored to whatever level of assistance you need, no matter your circumstances.
There are many activities and needs that a live-in carer will take care of and assist with, such as:
- Getting up, getting dressed, going to bed and general mobility
- Toileting, showering and other personal care aspects
- Cooking and preparing healthy and varied meals
- Ensuring medication is collected and taken
- Coordinating medical and therapy appointments
- Doing household chores, cleaning, shopping and other errands
- Encouraging engagement in hobbies and activities
- Providing companionship and emotional support
- Keeping in touch with friends and family using video calling tools
- Facilitating outings and social engagements
- Looking after your pet(s)
As you can see from this list, every type of need can be looked after in your own home and every day will be different, just like it should be.
Benefits of Live In Care
Now that we’ve explained what live-in care is, we can now move onto the benefits and how it might be a better alternative to a care home.
Remain Living In Your Own Home
Live-in care is considered by many as a preferable alternative to a care home. This is because you wouldn’t need to move homes and your independence and routine wouldn’t be disrupted or restricted. Care homes tend to have an itinerary that dictates your schedule to certain times, places, activities for you to follow each day, without being given the choice of what you’d like to do and eat.
Your carer will come and live with you so you can carry on living independently and with dignity in the comfort and familiarity of your own home. Your daily life can stay much the same without having to change your routine and environment in order to receive the care that you need. This means that you can carry on doing what you love to do in life, whether that’s just watching television, taking part in your favourite hobbies or even taking short trips to the garden centre.
What’s more, is that your friends and family can come and visit you as normal whenever you like. We understand how important your loved ones are so they won’t ever have to be slotted into a particular day and time to come and visit you, like they may have to in a care home.
Better Level Of Care
The care that you receive in your own home should be just as unique as you are and should be fully tailored to suit your needs and lifestyle. Live in care is also super flexible so as long as your basic care needs are met, your carer can help as much or as little as you’d like and your day will be completely structured around you.
Not only this, but you will also receive the emotional support that you may not receive in a care home, which tends to have more of a focus on your medical and practical needs. Not only are live in home carers specially-trained to attend to all manner of needs, they are also able to support you from an emotional and social perspective, ticking all the boxes and providing you with an overall better level of care.
Personal And Dedicated Live In Carer
Another great advantage of live-in care is that you would receive personalised care from a sole carer as opposed to a team of carers who are on shifts within a care home or just whoever is available to come and look after you.
In particular, at Quality Life UK our live in carers will live with their clients on a week-on, week-off basis, which means that they’ll spend a week with you in your home and then swap with another carer for the next week. This pattern will ensure that you can personally get to know your carers and not feel that you’re being passed around on a disruptive, hourly basis across several carers. It also gives you a chance to form genuine friendships with your carers so that you can enjoy your time together.
Close Companionship
You will receive a dedicated carer who will be closely matched to your personality, interests and values. You will have a say on who comes and lives with you to provide your care and if you’re spending the majority of your time with them, building a genuine friendship and close companionship with them would be welcomed with open arms.
The team at Quality Life UK understands the importance of clients having a close relationship with their carers and therefore takes the time to choose the perfect carer for you, with similar personality traits and preferences. This helps to ensure you can enjoy the time you have together, whether it’s watching sports on the television, baking and cooking or crafting!
Cost-Effective
Live in care is a care agency service that offers high-quality support and represents excellent value for money for individuals who require long-term care. For a similar price point to being offered a single bedroom within a care home, you can receive a bespoke service that caters to your health, emotional and social needs by a dedicated and warm carer from the comfort of your own home.
This can also include care for your partner rather than paying for two separate rooms and potentially in two different care homes. This means that you won’t be split up and can both receive the care without having to move, giving you the opportunity to enjoy life together as you should.
How Can Quality Life UK Help You?
We hope this blog answers your question of ‘what is live in care?’ and that after exploring its benefits, we have provided you with more information on how it can provide you and your family with a better level of care for your later years from the comfort of your own home.
If you would like more information on live in care or any of our other services, such as night care, respite care and rehabilitation care, please don’t hesitate to contact us by calling 01509 76 78 79 or emailing us at [email protected].
