What is the process of finding the right care for elderly relatives so that you ensure the right choices are made?
Choosing care for an elderly relative can feel overwhelming, especially if you haven’t faced this situation before. Here’s a step-by-step process to help you make informed decisions and ensure the right choices.
1. Care Assessment
Start by contacting your relative’s Local Authority. Request an adult social services home care assessment. Every elderly person is entitled to this assessment. It helps you understand their care needs and whether they qualify for full or partial state funding.
2. Care Funding
Explore funding options for elderly care. These may include means-tested and non-means-tested benefits, as well as grants for home adaptations. Sometimes, the Local Authority pays for part of the care, usually covering basic needs. If the council funds any homecare, they provide a care and support plan. You can also choose to pay privately to top up the care provision.
3. Freedom To Choose
If the Local Authority funds the care, you have the right to select your own care provider. They offer a personal budget, allowing you to manage the funds and decide what care is provided. You can use the provider offered by the Local Authority or choose a contracted provider. Alternatively, you can opt for direct payments, which go directly to your relative and can be used to select another provider.
4. Care for the Elderly: Looking for Providers
You’ll find many care providers, including home care and residential care options. Often, it’s best for your relative to stay in their own home and maintain independence as long as possible. One provider with the skills to deliver care throughout the journey—from visiting home care to live-in and end-of-life care—offers continuity. This approach reduces stress and helps everyone involved. MyLife provides this continuity; click here to view the services that we provide.
Care Quality
All care providers are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and are subject to regular inspections that investigate the quality of the care provision within the following five key questions:
Are They Safe?
This is to ensure that your loved one is protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
Are They Effective?
Effective care means that your loved one’s care, treatment and support achieves good outcomes, helping to maintain quality of life.
Are They Caring?
The staff involved in caring for your loved one treats them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
Are They Responsive to People’s Needs?
Responsive services are organised so that they are continuously meeting your loved one’s needs, reviewing regularly and updating support as needs change.
Are They Well-Led?
The leadership, management and governance of the care provider ensures it’s providing high quality care for the elderly based around your loved one’s particular needs. Also that it encourages learning and innovation, while promoting an open and fair culture.
Checking a Service
The Care Quality Commission has every registered service on their website as well as published inspection reports pertaining to that service. Each provider must also display the Care Quality Commission widget on their website, this displays their overall rating and a link to their registration.
Care Planning
Care planning must be a full and comprehensive look at the person to ensure all needs and wishes are met. It must consider care needs and lifestyle, along with any existing routines and things the person likes to do and wants to achieve.
A care plan will be prepared and organised by the care provider once you have chosen which one you would like to use. It should be reviews and updated regularly to ensure needs are continuously being met. As things change, so should the support. This could be reducing support as recovery improves or increasing support as needed.
Ongoing Involvement
As a relative of the person being cared for you should have the opportunity to be involved. It may be that you ask the care provider to call you if your loved one doesn’t seem to be happy that day. It offers the chance for you to be more closely involved, even when you are living at a distance.
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