Are you planning ahead when it comes to arranging live-in care for your elderly parents? With more and more people slowly returning to work following the ease of lockdown, we wanted to talk to you about the importance of arranging live-in care in advance - don't wait until you're a weekend away from returning to the hustle and bustle of daily life to pick the perfect domiciliary carer for your relatives.
We are here to help you find and arrange the perfect live-in carer for your relatives. Our team work hard to ensure the carer coming to live in your loved ones home has similar interests so conversations is always flowing, and likes the same things - be this gardening or looking after the beloved pet! To ensure we pick the right home carers to present to you, we take time carefully matching our clients with our carers - and trust us when we say carers do get booked quickly, and tend to stay with their clients for a long time. Which is why we wanted to remind you that planning ahead for live in care is very important.
It's not just booking the perfect carer, there are also a few practicalities to consider prior to arranging live-in care as follows:
Preparing the home
Our domiciliary carers are mindful that they are coming to support your relative in their home and know that everywhere they stay is different. Having a carer live in your home is much like preparing for a guest to stay.
Spare Room
A carer will need their own bedroom with sets of bed linen & towels, suitable storage for their clothes and belongings and access to a bathroom. If their bedroom has a television then that’s a bonus, but not essential. Wi-Fi too is preferred but again not essential.
Food
Our home carers are encouraged to make meal times a sociable occasion and therefore eat with their clients, unless expressly asked not to (which in the case of couples is sometimes completely understandable). As we encourage cooking and eating together where possible our clients cover the cost of their carer’s food, so for example, shepherd’s pie for one becomes shepherd’s pie for two! If a private carer has any special dietary requirements a client is not expected to pay for this and we will help to agree arrangements for both parties if necessary.
Housekeeping Money
There are a few ways that people typically manage a housekeeping fund for their carer. One of the better ways is for the family to set-up a bank account and have a debit card for the live in carers. This way, the family can transfer monies online to cover what’s required and keep an eye on spending. The carer simply passes the card and pin to the next home carer and so on. Other clients/families are happy to have a petty cash tin in the home that they top up when they visit in exchange for the receipts for purchases made.
Carer Rest Breaks
Live-in Carers need to have suitable breaks to complement their duties and ensure that they can care and support to the best of their ability. Each client is different and therefore each break pattern is too. We will help you establish a pattern that works for both client and carer. If your loved one can’t be left alone carers tend to be flexible and many will be happy replacing their daily breaks with a longer break once or twice a week when the family are visiting. Either way we will do our best to fit in around your routine.
Specialist Equipment
If your relative is finding moving around their home tricky then it is advisable to consult an Occupational Therapist who will visit them at home and make some recommendations. This way you can ensure that they and their carer will have the equipment they need to make the most of their home safely. We can put you in touch with a firm of private OT’s that provide this service if you wish.
Power of Attorney
Now may be the time to consider the appointment of a lasting power of attorney (LPA). This is a legal document that lets a person (the ‘donor’, in this case our client) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on their behalf. This gives them more control over what happens to them if, for example, they have an accident or an illness and can’t make decisions at the time they need to be made (they ‘lack mental capacity’). We are more than happy to refer you to people that can help and advise you on this.
Insurances
It is worth notifying the home insurers that a carer will be temporarily residing in the home and also the motor insurance company if a carer is required to drive.
So as you see, when it comes to arranging domiciliary care the earlier you start the process and book your perfect carer, the easier the process is! Don't leave this very important task to the weekend before your commitments start to pile up again and arranging live-in care becomes just another think on the list of things to-do - we're here to make this process as easy and seamless as possible!
Call our friendly livein care specialists today to arrange live-in care on 01264 319399 (freephone) or email hello@access-care.co.uk