What is Live In Care?

What exactly is Live In Care & how does it work?

Live In Care is a great way to continue to live in your home, in a safe & supported way, to keep to your same routines and have the reassurance and physical support you need, which we appreciate can change on a day-to-day basis. Unlike our homecare services, which are typically for 45 minutes to 2 hours, Live In CareGivers are present 24 hours a day, and become a part of your day to day life while they live with you for a period of 2 – 8 weeks.

If you'd like to read specifically about the benefits of Live In Care, please see our other blog: The benefits of Live In Care

During a Live In Care placement, our CareGiver would live in their own room in the clients home, which ensures they are continuously availability to help with any needs or emergencies that may arise. The CareGivers focus is to help clients to achieve their day-to-day goals, maintain their routines and help with as much or as little of this as required. Live In Care, like homecare, is all about encouraging, supporting & promoting choice within client’s lives, and is based on a clear, comprehensive care plan.

When potential clients or their loved ones first speak to us about Live In Care to understand if it is the right decision for them, they often ask questions such as:

• What does a Live In CareGiver do?
• How does Live In Care work?
• How long would a CareGiver stay with me?
• How much does Live In Care cost?
• Is Live In care just for one client?

Here we will answer some of the most common questions as above, and provide you with clarity around how Live In Care works with Right at Home Chippenham.

What does a Live In CareGiver do?

Our Live In CareGivers are passionate about assisting clients to maintain their daily routines, ensuring it is done safely but also filled with choice, from their morning personal care routine, to attending local events & maintaining a healthy balanced diet. Areas that our Live In CareGivers support current clients are as follows:

• Personal Care: including assistance with bathing/showering, dressing, using the toilet, and mobilising safely into / out of bed.
• Medication Management: Our team are highly trained, to be able to safely administer medications according to prescriptions, which are electronically managed and reported, so loved ones can stay in touch with which medications are being taken.
• Meal Preparation: Our CareGivers spend time with clients to plan and prepare nutritious meals based on dietary requirements and preferences, to support a balanced diet.
• Household Management: To support cleanliness and safety of the home, our team will perform housekeeping tasks, laundry, shopping & gardening.
• Companionship: One of the biggest positives of Live In care is the engaging conversations that happen, as well as participating together in activities, accompanying the care recipient on outings, or simply going for a short walk locally.
• Wellbeing and Safety: One of the biggest benefits of Live In Care is that a consistent CareGiver can keep a watchful eye on clients overall well-being, ensuring they remain safe, and responding promptly to any emergencies.

How does Live In Care work?

Live In Care begins the same way all our care does, with an initial discussion about the client, their needs, their location & what type of care they are considering. From there, we arrange and conduct an in person Care Assessment, where a Care Assessor from Right at Home would visit the prospective client in their home, ideally with members of their family present to allow us to a comprehensive care plan which would include the following:

• Information about the client, their working life, interests, hobbies, achievements, likes & dislikes
• Their daily routines, so we can ensure we help them to maintain these
• Day to day outcomes, so our CareGivers know what to help them achieve each day
• Health conditions
• Medication routines
• Professionals involved in their care such as GP, Pharmacies, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists etc

From this we can then not only create a thorough digital care plan, but we can also match them with the most suitable Live In CareGiver, based on their interests and hobbies.

How long would a CareGiver stay with me?

Typically, a Live In CareGiver would stay with a client for between 2 and 8 weeks, allowing them time to form a good relationship but also not too long of a period so that the quality of care drops. The CareGiver would then have a 1 to 3 week break, where another CareGiver would provide Care & Support, before having the regular Live In CareGiver return. Whenever Live In CareGivers change, there is a thorough handover to ensure relevant and appropriate information is shared, so that continuity and quality is maximised.

How much does Live In Care cost?

Having a managed Live In support package from a regulated provider comes with real benefits, such as:

• Peace of mind from knowing your Live In CareGiver is not only trained and supported 24/7, but that they have had all prior employment and ongoing compliance and safety checks completed.
• Seamless handovers & back up – We ensure that all new staff are thoroughly trained, but also ensure that we have back up staff in place should your CareGiver become unwell or need to leave due to an emergency.
• We are here for you, not just our CareGivers – So if you need support accessing services, contacting a particular healthcare professional or need additional support, we can facilitate this.
• We work holistically with you, your Live In CareGiver, your healthcare professionals, your loved ones & any other person or organisation you wish us to, so we can keep everyone appropriately connected.

Our standard Managed Live In support package is a weekly cost of £1668, which gives you 24/7 peace of mind that someone is available for your loved one(s) for all their day to day needs, which is a really competitive alternative to Care Home costs.

Is Live In care just for one client?

Absolutely not – Our Live In CareGivers can support more than one person, meaning if your parents are looking for more help at home but don’t wish to have a specific time each day or duration, and want someone to fit in with their day to day life, then Live In Care is a great option.

It is important to note that if both people have complex care needs, a second CareGiver may need to visit to support with morning or bedtime routines, but this would be discussed at your Care Assessment to ensure we build personalised care plans for both people.

If you’re looking for Live In Care in Wiltshire, give us a call, download a brochure or visit us in Chippenham, we would be more than happy to help.