How To Choose the Right Home Care: Considerations For You & Your Loved Ones, For Peace Of Mind

How To Choose the Right Home Care: Considerations For You & Your Loved Ones, For Peace Of Mind

Needing Homecare is not just to help with personal care routines & it doesn’t need to be forever. There are so many options & possibilities with homecare, to fit everyone’s needs, budgets, preferences & abilities.  

Yes, many people do require support as that get older, but age is not the defining factor surrounding homecare, many people choose to have it sooner than needed to reduce their mobility decline, to allow them to continue doing what they enjoy safely or to regain independence or confidence after an injury, accident or even an operation.

Our population is ageing, and we are on a mission to help people to age well, which relies on strong (and appropriate) communication & collaboration, to effectively enable people to access the professionals and services which will keep people safe, independent & happy for as long as possible.

Our aim with this blog, is to help you to become familiar with various terminologies associated with homecare, understand different ways you can be supported at home & what to expect when it comes to having homecare, from the initial telephone calls to meeting with the care assessors & the commencement of care. So, without further ado, let’s begin:

Demystifying & Breaking Down Various Terminologies: Breathing Life into Acronyms

We often get asked by clients or prospective clients loved ones, often sheepishly, about different terminologies they see or hear, which can be on information leaflets, by Healthcare Professionals or online. We don’t want people to feel silly asking what acronyms mean, and we feel it’s vital to fully understand the various terms that get thrown around in the word of care:

• OT – Occupational Therapist, which is a healthcare professional who specialises in helping people to be as independent and able as possible, with the use of mobility aids & exercises. The primary goal of an OT is to help people to be able to engage in meaningful activities (also known as occupations) such as dressing and washing, but also paid work, household tasks & hobbies.
• GP – General Practitioner, who can provide a wide range of support for various medications and focus on identifying the root cause of an illness or ailment, and where appropriate ensuring the appropriate medications are provided.
• DN – District Nurses, who provide community-based nursing support which can be with tasks such as applying or correcting bandages, injected medication, pressure ulcer management, palliative pain management support & work closely with care providers such as Right at Home Chippenham.
• SALT – Speech and Language Therapy are a team that focus around two main areas, one area is supporting people with verbal communication challenges, and the other is swallowing difficulties. The ‘SALT’ team will work with you to identify what the issue is, what is causing this, methods to improve your ability & will then work closely with you to support your progress and improvements.
• Hospital Discharge – This refers to the end-to-end process of being assessed in hospital to identify what care needs, if any, you would require at home, and the sourcing of care from providers such as Right at Home to ensure that when you get home you have appropriate care to keep you safe. It also includes overseeing transport to get you home & into your home safely, while also ensuring you have the appropriate equipment at home, which involved them liaising with Occupational Therapist teams so hospital beds, walking frames & grab rails etc can be ready for you when you get home.
• Community Team – This is the term for a team of professionals including Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Support Workers, Clinical Leads & more, who holistically support people at home to ensure they have access to all the expertise and equipment required. Community Team Information
• CHC – Continuing Health Care is a funding section of the NHS, as some people with long term, complex care needs can qualify for free social care which will be fully funded by the NHS. This depends on a range of criteria & assessments by healthcare professionals, for more information follow this link: More about CHC
• LA – Local Authority, who oversee the commissioning of care (where funded by them) and oversee safeguarding referrals.
• CQC – Care Quality Commission, the regulator that governs and oversees homecare providers, care homes, nursing homes, dentists, doctors & various other types of businesses.
• DNR – This means ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ & is a form completed by doctor with client’s consent, which will confirm or deny if CPR is to be completed should the person stop breathing. More recently these have been branded as ‘RESPECT’ forms.
• MCA – Mental Capacity Act 2005, is the act which focuses on protecting and empowering them, even if they may lack capacity. For more details please read the following link: More about MCA
• DoLs - Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards is designed to protect your rights if you require support or treatment which may impact, restrict, or deprive you of your liberty. There is a great article here from Age UK: Information about DoLs
• PPE – Personal Protective Equipment is the equipment that CareGivers and other professionals wear to protect themselves & their clients, to avoid passing on any bacteria or pathogens. These include gloves, aprons, masks, eye protection, visors.
• Nursing Home & Care Home – We are often asked what the difference is between care homes and nursing homes, when clients are considering their long-term plans. Care homes provide support such as:

- Daily personal care support
- Assistance with applying creams, helping with oral medication & inhalers.
- Companionship & activities to help you meet others, remain social & engage your brain
- Moving & Handling support, if needed in bed.

• Nursing homes off the same as Care Homes, but also the following as they require oversight from a Registered Nurse (RN):

- Support with level 3 medications such as PEG feeding, pressure ulcer care,
- Medical & nursing tasks
- Monitoring of health conditions & improvements/decline
- Post operation support such as bandage replacement, wound management & stitching

As our loved one’s age or face health challenges, providing them with the best care possible becomes a priority. Homecare services offer personalized support, which is tailored to the individual receiving the care & support. When looking into homecare, we believe the following are key considerations, along with our ultimate golden rule:

Research:

First, it’s vital to do your research and understand the options out there before you even pick up the phone, which you can do using the following methods:

• Online via websites such as homecare.co.uk or google.com or a downloadable brochure from the company’s website like here Download Brochure
• Print via magazines or newspapers.
• Word of mouth, ask others that you know receive homecare.

When researching these companies, it’s imperative to try to understand the following:

• Are they a local company with a local office? This way you know there will be a local manager or owner to speak to
• Does the wording of their adverts sound like they truly care?
• Is the advert clear, professional & give you confidence in their service?
• Are they CQC regulated? This is vital, as without it there is no regulator overseeing the service.
• Does it tell you who runs/owns the service? These are the people responsible for ensuring you get the best care from the best people (Care Assistants)

Once you’ve done your basis research, it’s time to pick up the phone or get in the car, whichever feels more natural to you – This is to allow you to get a better idea of who is begin the service.

Engaging with care providers, what to ask & first impressions:

The person you speak to when you call to enquire for care, is likely one of the first people that existing clients & CareGivers will speak to when they call, so it’s important to consider the following:

• Do I feel valued & welcome when I called?
• Did they have time for me & want to help?
• Were the warm, chatty & friendly?
• Were the interesting in understanding the reason for your call & how they can help?

When on this call, in addition to how friendly, helpful & caring they seemed, it’s important to understand the following:

• Do they have capacity to help you at the location & time you need?
• Do they offer you a set time, and not a rough time/window?
• What do they believe makes them a great service?
• How long have they been established as a company?
• How flexible can they be with completing a care assessment should you go ahead with them?

Our advice is to complete the above with 5 different providers, which should take no more than 30 minutes to complete & allows you to really understand the different providers out there.

Meeting with providers, what to expect & how a care assessment works:

When you meet with a care provider, it’s important to know what they will need to ask about you but also, it’s equally vital you know what they should be asking you as a prospective client that they might begin providing care for.

Firstly, what will they need to know about you:

• Basic information such as contact details, gender, religious beliefs & the times in which you would like care to happen.
• Health conditions that currently impact your day to day living, or those that you take medication for
• What you wish to achieve during each visit.
• Medications you take & if you need support with these.
• If the environment is safe, both for yourself & for visiting CareGivers
• Where items are located, that staff will need to use, in order to support you, which avoids them needing to ask you.
• CareGiver preference – Are you happy with male & female CareGivers?
• Where are you registered with for you GP & Pharmacy?

What should they ask to deliver quality, person centre care?

• What are your long-term goals & what can we help you to achieve in the coming months or even the next year?
• What are your daily routines that we can help you to maintain? Everyone does things differently, but we are here to support your independence to safely maintain your routines, not to take over in anyway.
• Details about your childhood, where you grew up, what you did for your first job, where you met friends or partners &what brought you to live in the area? This information is so useful to match you with the best CareGiver, for example if you were in the RAF for 30 years and initially posted abroad, we may have a team member from an RAF background who can spend hours chatting to you about common interests.

A quality care assessment can take anything from one to two hours, depending on how complex your needs are, how detailed your routines are but also how much you would like to discuss and talk about.

We recommend meeting with 3 different providers, to get a feel for them, how they operate & what they stand for.

Before the final, and most important part of all our guidance, which is our golden rule, we’d like to highlight a few other things you may wish to consider asking, researching or finding out:

Licensing and Accreditation – Check that they are CQC (Care Quality Commission) regulated for safety & peace of mind.

Reputation and Reviews – Look at homecare.co.uk, indeed.com & other sites to see what their clients & employees say about them.

Staff Screening and Training – Find out what training their staff get, how often it is refreshed, how often them complete field-based supervisions or spot checks.

Range of Services – If you feel your needs may increase, understand what more they can offer you so that you have the option to remain with the same care provider should it be required. Find out about Live In Care here: What is Live In Care?

Communication and Transparency – Find out how often they write to clients & how often they seek client feedback through reviews or surveys.

With that all being said & done, it’s time for the final piece of our golden rule, so let’s recap:

5 – Speak with 5 providers, get a feel for how welcome they make you, how much of an interest they take & how receptive to your call they are.

3 – Meet with 3 providers, get a feel for them, the company & if you like and trust what they are about

1 – The most important part, ask the one person who matters most – The person who will be receiving the care.

This method will ensure both the client & their family are involved in the process, but also ensure the person who ultimately needs to accept the care has the final say.

For more information about care services, please follow the below link or contact us today.