Common Misconceptions About Care At Home

There are a number of differing emotions that people have when beginning to consider care options for a loved one. A combination of a lack of knowledge and these feelings often lead to some common misconceptions, both for those who need the care and the relatives who may be looking for care for a loved one.

Below are the 5 most common misconceptions people have when considering care at home.

1. Carers are unskilled

Carers come from a range of different backgrounds, with many often entering the sector following a career change in later life. These people could have been teachers, nurses, or even business owners. The care sector also attracts many young carers who are starting out and wish to develop a career in health and social care, and students enrolled on nursing or adult social care courses who wish to gain field-based experience.

Many care workers will already have, or are undertaking specific health and social care qualifications. So, although carers are not officially recognised as skilled workers, they will always be dedicated and well-trained professionals.

The kind of attributes a care worker has, include soft skills such as:

• Empathy and compassion
• Understanding when someone needs encouragement or comforting
• An ability to deal with a health emergency
• Communication skills
• Knowing how to preserve a person’s dignity
• An ability to support people with long term conditions like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s

2. Carers will take over or change my normal routine

At the start of any care package, a care plan is always drawn up for each individual, with family and friends encouraged to play an active part in this process. The care planning process enables the care provider to accurately determine healthcare needs as well as to discover more about the person, what they like & dislike and to gain a better understanding of personal goals and lifestyle choices.

Carers will align the care that they provide directly to the care plan that has been agreed, and their job is to encourage independence and help as and when needed. But ultimately, the person receiving the care will always have choice and control about their care and how they wish for it to be delivered.

3. Having a stranger in my home will be uncomfortable

There is no denying that it will be a big change to have carers visiting you at home for the first time. Carers understand that some people will at first, be apprehensive about the thought of people they do not know coming into their home on a regular basis. A good care provider, like Live In Solutions, will manage this apprehension by ensuring that they allocate as few different people as possible so that you can quickly become accustomed to the carers that visit and start to form meaningful relationships.

4. Home care is expensive

In most cases, home care will be less expensive than a residential care facility. Residential care can cost anything upwards of £1,200 a week for a room in a good quality home. The move into residential care will also usually mean that your loved one is likely to have to sell their home, and most of their belongings which cannot be taken with them due to space constraints.

Home care gives each person the opportunity to remain at home in comfortable and familiar surroundings, which also makes it possible to keep any pets, enables married couples to stay living together and remain within their own community amongst family and established social networks. Private home care will range in cost per hour. And because it is charged for by the hour, it allows more flexibility with the ability to increase and decrease support as and when required, rather than having a fixed cost.

5. Home care is only required following illness or injury

There doesn’t need to be a specific illness or injury that prompts a person to start receiving a home care service. Some people receive home care because they want some companionship, while others choose home care because things have become more difficult due to ageing and they want the reassurance of having someone else around when they do things like showering or preparing meals.

As home care services can be offered at times and frequencies to suit each person, it can often be a very effective preventative solution to minimise the risk of illness or injury. Home carers are also able to use their experience to identify possible risks to injury in the home, as well as look out for the early signs of illness.

Get in Touch for Expert Care Advice

At Live In Solutions, we are proud to provide live-in home care services across Essex and the South of England.

If you have any questions about our live-in care or home care services, and whether it’s the right option for you or a loved one, please call one of our friendly care advisors on 01245 890336.