Care Home or home care - which is best?
When your loved ones need more care than you and the rest of your family can provide, it’s time to consider an alternative. The question then may become comparing a care home with home care.
This is always a difficult decision when you need to consider things such as safety, 24-hour assistance, access to healthcare services, and so much more.
It’s often easier to make a major decision if we divide it up into a number of smaller, easier to understand choices or comparisons…
Your needs | Care Home | home care |
| Friendship and company | Yes, all the time with other residents and care staff | With the single carer, when they are there |
| Support for the family | All the time | When the carer visits |
| Health Monitoring | 24/7 | Via local GP |
| Covid 19 safety | Planned and monitored with strict precautions in place | Possible contamination from carer and visitors |
| General safety | Safe environment, many staff available around the clock | Probably safe environment but not professionally reviewed & maintained |
| Nutrition | Full dietary requirements met within weekly fees – fresh home cooked food with plentiful home cooked snacks | What you buy, have delivered and cook |
| Wellbeing and activities | A wide variety of personalised activities on site, and excursions out. A focus on maximising each person’s overall wellbeing and enjoyment | Typically quite limited and dependant on family & friends |
| Accomodation | Variety of types of rooms, fitting various sizes or budget personalised with pictures, furniture, and mementos. | The familiar home you have lived in for so long |
| Specialist care | Yes, on site | Intermittently if at all as increasingly NHS and Local Authorities not visiting people’s houses |
| Familiarity of surroundings | What you bring with you with your own furniture, pictures, mementos etc | Your own house and garden |
| Cost | Around £5.00 per hr (From £850 – £1,200 per week) | Around £20 per hour + |
| Permanent care | Only if needed, respite care available | As required |
Support for the family
We are always open for visits, whilst making sure that all our residents, including your loved ones, are well protected through our robust infection screening. We are on hand to discuss any issues that you are concerned about.
In terms of Home Care, visits remain impromptu, but so is the assistance you will be able to provide your loved ones. Your home carer may not have the time to discuss any issues.
General Safety
The elderly are more often badly affected by trips, slips and falls. These accidents make up 58% of one-year mortality rates among senior citizens. It is one of the top concerns of any Care Home, and at Park House we have an extensive understanding of how to prevent such accidents. We focus on specific individuals and any concerning signs. We then offer advice on ideal exercises, possibly making use of specialised equipment that is not available in one’s home.
Covid safety
Every team member is tested on their arrival for each shift, along with many other measures, all carefully considered and implemented.
This is not typically the case with Home Care and is almost impossible to monitor. The interaction with a home care worker is also an interaction with everyone they have been in contact with over the last few weeks.
Health monitoring
In Care Homes, frequent checks on residents’ vital signs are made, keeping track of any possible ongoing and emerging health issues. For example, we monitor skin health and keep an eye on vital signs such as weight. All checks are performed by qualified staff who know the residents and relatives well. As a result, any problem that may arise is caught early and treated promptly. If one of our staff believes a medical trip off-site is necessary, they will make any necessary preparations and offer any assistance they can to medical professionals.
With Home Care, care remains your responsibility, whether you are there or not. There will likely be many different caregivers as changes are common and unavoidable. This can result in vital clues to health problems going unseen by inexperienced home care staff. Families are kind and supportive, but not always aware of the warning signs and rarely document concerns.
Friendship and Company
We all enjoy social interaction and friendship and waiting for a visit from a caregiver or family, the hours can feel like an eternity. At a Care Home, you have many options for social interaction, even if it is just simply talking with someone. Residents from many different backgrounds live at Park House, as well as the care staff. Plenty of people to chat to and pass some pleasant hours.
Nutrition
Our expert Chefs craft three delicious and nutritious meals each day, with a variety of options, each made from fresh and high-quality ingredients. To ensure everyone remains well hydrated, drinks are provided regularly and easily accessible, alongside a variety of snacks!
With Home Care, the duty of managing nutrition is your responsibility, your loved ones, or possibly a food delivery service that coordinates with the caregiver. This particular area of care can be challenging, especially that of Hydration.
Accommodation
All Care Homes have a range of room sizes and prices to choose from, depending on needs and budget. Each resident is typically welcome to bring any personal belongings they wish, any treasured items or mementoes, and furniture is provided for each room. The rooms are professionally managed and maintained. Spacious common areas are open for socialising, events and activities.
All homes can deteriorate over time and without constant maintenance can become dirty and even dangerous. The lack of continuity that can come with home care means that gradual deterioration can easily go unnoticed. In a care home the fabric of the building, its maintenance and cleaning are taken very seriously. It’s not something that you will need to worry about.
Wellbeing and Activities
We provide a wide range of daily activities for all our residents to participate in here at Park House, including trips off-site. It is our mission to make sure that each and every resident here has the best possible day-to-day experiences.
Home care does not provide this, and all event planning and activities have to be organised and curated by the person’s family.
Familiar Surroundings
An important choice when choosing care is ensuring familiarity of your loved one’s surroundings. In a Care Home you will often be able to move any personal items into your new room to make it feel unique to your loved one. Although it won’t be the same as being at home, this change can often be a very good thing for your loved one, bringing with it a new chapter in their lives.
Home care takes place in the same house they have had for so many years, with all the familiar sounds and sights.
Specialist Care
A variety of care services, including assistance with injuries or any unforeseen issues that become apparent are part and parcel of Care Home living. Care home staff contact the local medical professionals and hospitals when needed. Any emergency or form of regular medical care will be addressed straight away. Depending on the individual and their needs, other specialists such as occupational therapists, dieticians or fall experts may be contacted to provide further assistance.
Without a specialist or costly form of Home Care, medical requirements are not usually included for Home Care.
Cost
Depending on size requirements, ease of access and facilities, UK Care Home prices can range from £750-£1500 per month, which includes all activities, en-suite, dietary needs, and all care assistance.
Home Care fees are dependent on location, with a rough average of £20 per hour, with all other costs associated with running a home remaining the same.
Looking closer at the two options, you may notice that they are not comparable. Home Care costs, in comparison with Care Home costs, are much greater for full-time care.
Basic home care costs an average of £20+ per hour, compared to the £5 per hour average in a Care Home as a result of economies of scale and supporting many residents in one building. Most people are surprised when this type of comparison is made but if you are considering a care home, rather than a few hours of support, it is the comparison that is most appropriate.
