What are the options when someone needs more support?

Care does not automatically mean a care home. There are different ways to support someone, and the right option depends on their needs, circumstances and what matters to them.

When someone you love starts needing more help, it can feel as though you have two choices: keep coping at home or move them into a care home.

The reality is much broader.

There are different ways of supporting someone, and the right option depends on their needs, wishes, safety, circumstances and the support available around them.

There is no single care pathway

These aren’t steps everyone has to go through. Different people need different arrangements.

These aren’t steps everyone has to go through

Someone may remain happily at home with a few visits each week. Another person may need intensive support. Someone else may need a short period of respite.

The answer comes from the person’s pattern of needs — not the label attached to them.

Care at home

Care at home can range from occasional visits to much more intensive support. It can help with personal care, meals, medication prompts, mobility, domestic tasks or supervision.

For some people, familiar surroundings are extremely important. For others, the amount of support required eventually becomes difficult to deliver safely at home.

If you are questioning whether the current arrangement is sustainable, read When Is Home Care No Longer Enough?

Respite care

Respite is temporary care designed to give a family carer a break or provide short-term support.

It can include care at home, sitting services, day services, residential respite or specialist support.

Explore the Carentis Respite Care Hub or try the Respite Care Checker.

Find the right care for the person’s needs

If a care home is becoming a realistic option, don’t start by choosing a vacancy. Start by understanding what type of care and environment the person needs.

Residential care or nursing care?

The two are not interchangeable. Nursing care may be relevant where registered nursing input is required.

Read Residential Care vs Nursing Care →

Don’t forget funding

Before deciding that an option is unaffordable, understand what funding routes may be relevant.

Depending on circumstances, these could include NHS Continuing Healthcare, NHS-funded nursing care, local authority support, deferred payment arrangements and self-funding.

Where are you in the journey?

Useful Carentis resources

• Choosing a Care Home: How Do You Know Which One Is Right?
• Residential Care vs Nursing Care
• Respite Care Hub
• NHS Continuing Healthcare
• Care Funding Calculator

Want help making the decision?

If you are struggling to decide what type of care is appropriate, Carentis can help you work through the situation and the questions you need to ask.