As if getting older wasn’t challenging enough all on its own, now you need to decide between home-based care or going into a residential care setting!
It’s not a decision to be taken lightly and, to be completely honest, some of the main questions that need to be asked can be very daunting – what are the pro’s and con’s, what is the real cost, where will I or my loved ones be best looked after?
There is a perception that home-based care is more expensive than residential care, one of the main reasons for this is because people think that because you pay ‘X’ amount for residential care including all meals etc, that that’s going to be the total costs and it seems very affordable. But thinking the residential cost is the total cost is definitely not the case!
The greatest cost of elder care is incurred when a person goes into frail care – frail care is the care you need when you are no longer able to perform simple daily activities such as eating, personal hygiene and general mobility due to physical frailty or mental incapacity. Every two months of frail care can cost about the same as one year of residential living! This is what a person should be planning for!
When comparing the costs where is counts most, having full-time care at home is the same price as full-time frail care in a residential home, but instead of being just one of the many patients being cared for by the frail-care unit’s often over-stretched staff, you receive one-on-one care and attention for the same price.
The only downside we have found against home-based care – especially if you work with a team of carers like we have at CareCompany – is that you may end up paying more because you’ll live longer! But we will leave that decision up to you!
So, in terms of value for money, we believe home-based care is where you should be looking. You get flexibility to start with just a few hours of care a week and the knowledge that when you need more care, you’ll get the attention you need – and deserve.
The CareCompany provides flexible and reliable home-based care that gives you peace of mind and the support you need. Whether it’s temporary or on-going support (for example after a hospital discharge), daily care or regular companionship, or even specialised dementia care – we’re here to help!
