What kind of care do you need :
Before considering the different types of care available, it’s important to understand what level of care support you need. The easiest way to do this is to carry out a care needs assessment, which can be organised directly with your local authority, or via your district nurse/social worker, if you have one.
A care needs assessment does exactly what it says on the tin. It is a way of understanding the support you need and building a suitable care plan. This will also help you to understand what non-means tested benefits you are entitled to. In addition to this, your local authority can also carry out a financial assessment which can help you to understand whether you are entitled to any means-tested benefits.
Different types of care:
Care at Home – For many, staying at home is an important part of their care plan. Many prefer to stay somewhere that is familiar to them, surrounded by their possessions and memories. There are a number of service providers across Scotland that support people at home with day-to-day activities such as dressing, medication management, housekeeping and preparing meals. This type of care is suitable for those who still maintain a degree of independence but would benefit from some additional support around the house.
Residential Care – Where the need for support can become impractical at home, it may be worth looking out support in a residential care home. Like care at home, residential care can support individuals with daily living activities such as bathing, getting in and out of bed or helping those with mobility challenges.
Nursing Care – Where an individual’s needs are of a medical nature, nursing care provides care by a qualified nurse on site round the clock. This will become necessary for those with more complex needs over and above their daily living activities. This can also include dementia care, ensuring safety and care with these specific needs in mind.
Understanding the type of care needed can help to cut through the noise and focus your search on the care providers that are relevant to you.
Finding a care provider you trust:
Going into care is about placing your trust in another. As such, it is important to do your research. There are a number of useful sources of information to help you “look under the bonnet” of different care providers.
Welcome to the Care Inspectorate – The care inspectorate scrutinises care providers across Scotland, providing support to maintain and improve care standards. They provide regular reporting on care providers, produced following onsite planned and unplanned visits.
Care Homes & Nursing Homes UK – Care Home Reviews & Nursing Home Reviews – Carehome.co.uk provides a catalogue of the various care homes across Scotland, giving residents and their families the opportunity to leave reviews for the benefit of future families to better understand the user experience.
Visiting a care home
This is an important step in finding a suitable care home. Care home providers should be eager to show you around and answer your questions so go prepared. Have a list of questions you would like answers to, such as information on the level of service, costs, safety protocols, activities.
Be upfront with the care provider about the level of care you need. Its important for them to know your expectations so that they can ensure they are the right provider for you. Lastly, visit the care home more than once, ideally at different times. This will give you a chance to meet more staff and observe the business during different times of the day.