When you first start to look into your options for care at home, it can sometimes feel confusing or overwhelming due to the range of different options available. We’ve compiled a list explaining each type of care at home, to help you to choose the option that’s best suited for you and your needs.

What is meant by care at home?

Care at home is when a health professional (care worker, PA or nurse) comes into your  home to assist you with day-to-day life and tasks. It’s an excellent choice for people who want to continue to live at home but need some help with daily tasks or the administration of medication, or who just need someone to keep them company during the day.

Types of care

Personal care

Personal care is a type of care that focuses on helping you with daily tasks that are of a personal nature. This can include things like bathing, dressing and taking you to the toilet, as well as more routine tasks such as cooking your meals. If you have limited mobility, your care worker may need to use a hoist or other aide to help with mobilisation. It is up to the individual person as to what they want to be included in their care, which gives you the freedom to choose a care plan that best works for you.  All personal care is provided in a respectful and discreet manner that upholds the person’s dignity.

Live-in care

Live-in care provides 24-hour care in the comfort of your own home. This helps you to continue to follow your own schedule while having the support of a care worker to ensure that your quality of life and wellbeing remain of a high standard, LiveIn care can provide peace of mind for you and your family and friends. You will develop a very personal relationship with your care worker, so it’s important that you choose someone who you really get on with and can envisage yourself spending a lot of time with. Live-in care is not for everyone and there are many advantages and disadvantages.

Reablement care

The reablement approach supports people to do things for themselves. Reablement services help people to retain or regain their skills and confidence so they can learn to manage again after a period of injury or illness. Reablement is an approach that, irrespective of diagnosis, aims to assist people to continue to live as they wish. It seeks to enable the individual to do ordinary activities like cooking meals, washing, dressing, moving about the home and going out, in order to reduce the need for ongoing long term care.

Companionship care

Companionship care is a type of care at home for people who just want someone to keep them company during the day. This may be because they live alone or because their family and friends are unable to visit with regularity. It helps to prevent people from suffering from loneliness, as it gives you someone to chat to throughout the day.

Nursing care

Although care workers are trained to administer a lot of medications and to treat some wounds, some medical tasks may require nursing care. This will be carried out by a registered nurse, to ensure that you are treated correctly. Nursing care can also be helpful following a surgical procedure, as the nurse will be able to monitor your recovery and make sure that you are recovering well.

What next?

These are just a selection of the main options for care at home, though there are of course others, such as respite home care, which helps your family and friends to care for you on a temporary basis to provide them with a break, or dementia care, which is a specific type of care that uses specially trained care workers to help you to maintain your quality of life. 

Once you have decided on the type of care at home that you feel will be best suited to your lifestyle, You then have the option of using a care agency or employing a care professional directly. 

we would recommend using a service such as Pair My Care to help find the best private carer for you.