There comes a time in our life where we need a little bit of extra help, and instead of having our loved ones focus most of their time and energy on us, we have to go to a care home. Most people call these homes retirement centres, but that’s not all there is to them.
Depending on who they take care of and what kinds of services they provide, there are multiple types of care homes. Today, we’re going to talk about different care homes. And, we’re also going to give you a few tips on how to choose the right one. Let’s begin.
Types Of Care Homes
Since there are numerous types of care homes, we’re going to keep this nice and brief but still give you enough info on all of them, so you can do some further research on the ones you’re interested in.
1. Respite Care
Source: helpguide.org
Respite care is a care home that provides short-term care for people that already have a full-time caregiver. They’re ideal for when the caregivers are going on a vacation or need some time off. To learn more about respite care service, visit https://absolutecarehealth.
2. Convalescent Care
Convalescent care is another instance of short-term care, only this time, it is for people that are recovering from a surgery or an injury, or even a serious illness. Think of convalescent care centres as rehabilitation centres because that’s essentially what they are.
3. Independent Living
Source: optionsforseniorliving.com
Independent living care homes are homes for self-sufficient senior citizens that are in good health and are still capable of taking care of themselves. However, independent living also offers security and social activities, as well as transportation, food, laundry and other services, to make life easier for the seniors.
4. Assisted Living
Assisted living provides senior citizens with round-the-clock assistance with daily activities like eating, bathing or bathroom. They’re usually small communities where seniors can interact with each other and be social. However, despite 24-hour assisted service with activities, the assisted living care homes do not provide 24-hour medical services.
5. Nursing Homes
Source: carehome.co.uk
Nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities are reserved for seniors that require 24-hour care and attention for every aspect of their lives. Usually, it is the seniors with Alzheimer’s or dementia that live in a nursing home.
Tips On Choosing The Right Care Home
Now that we’ve seen what your options are let’s talk a little bit about how you can choose the perfect home for your needs. To make sure we provide you with useful information, we’ve consulted with carezee.co.uk, so you can be certain that the tips we give you are stamped with a professional’s seal of approval.
1. Needs
The thing that comes above everything else are your needs. As you could’ve seen earlier, not every care home is for everyone, so before you decide on the right one – you have to assess your needs. If you are fully capable of taking care of yourself, then independent living is the ideal choice for you. On the other hand, if you have a parent or a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s – they have to be put in a nursing home.
Source: which.co.uk
2. Expertise And Reputation
Not every care home will be the same. Therefore, it’s not enough to simply choose the right type. You also have to make sure you end up in a reputable facility.
A lot of factors can make a care home reputable, but the ones that we’re most interested in are staff expertise and resident treatment.
As far as expertise goes, you want to make sure that the medical staff on premises is great at what they’re doing so that both medical care as well as daily assistance you get is at a very high level. But also, expertise won’t do you much good if the staff aren’t kind and gentle towards their residents.
3. Cost
Unfortunately, most people have to consider the cost of moving to a care home because not everyone sits on millions. The costs will vary from home to home. Naturally, independent living will be much more affordable than a nursing home, but also, not every independent living institution will cost the same.
Some will be more luxurious than others, which means they’ll be more expensive. So, it is not only a matter of what you need but also what you want. If you want to bask in luxury or want to make sure your loved ones do – you might want to look for something more expensive.
4. Location
Location is one of the most often overlooked factors when choosing a care home. People are led to believe that they don’t have to worry about the location of the facility because most seniors almost never leave the care home, but that’s not true. Location matters!
It matters for many different reasons, but most importantly, it matters because it affects how often you’ll be able to visit or get visited by your loved ones. If the care home is hundreds of kilometres away from your family, chances are, you’re going to see them only every once in a while.
Source: unsplash.com
5. Additional Services And Amenities
Most care homes will offer the same basic services and amenities, but if you want something extra – you’ll have to look for it. It is not common, but there are care homes with hair salons or music rooms, and if that sounds like something that might be appealing to you – it might be worth looking out for.
6. Visitation Policy
Finally, you’ll have to consider visitation policy, too. Some care homes do not allow visits, and although that is not common, that is something you need to inform yourself about beforehand. Also, some homes might have a strict visitation day policy. We’re sure the last thing you’d want to do is end up in a home with a strict and restrictive visitation policy you haven’t known about it until too late.
Conclusion:
There you have it. As you can see, there are a lot of different care facilities, and also, there are quite a few things to consider when choosing the right one for you. Hopefully, we’ve been able to help you out.
