The prospect of needing care support at home can be a daunting one. Having people come into your home to help with potentially intimate personal care and medical support takes a high element of trust on both sides of the arrangement to work. Going with a home care agency will help reduce any uncertainty. The carers will have already been vetted for suitability and level of training and competence. Here are some areas to consider – and questions to ask – when looking for your home care agency support.
What support do you need from a home care agency?
Home care agency workers can provide a wide range of care services, which are based on the needs of each individual client. For example, people may need some extra support with personal care and hygiene and morning and evening routines. Others may benefit from help with cooking, eating and clearing away meals, while another group may require help with household chores and running errands.
There are also added advantages of companionship, advice and checking in to make sure the person is safe. Then, there are many different ways that a home carer can help with medical issues. This could be preparing and giving medication, changing dressings, taking blood pressure or liaising with doctors, nurses and other medical staff to ensure cohesive medical support from all third parties.
How much involvement will you or your loved one have in planning?
Person-led care is big news right now, as medical experts are championing the benefits of people retaining as much control as possible over their care provision. One great advantage of working with a home care agency is the ability to set up a completely individualised care plan.
While you may have to fit in to some extent with schedules and available resources, you can tell the agency what you need and they will find someone to provide the right care services. This also helps people keep more of their independence and dignity at a time of life when they may be feeling more vulnerable and in need. You can choose what type of care to receive – how often, and whether or not you require help during the day, at night – or both.
What will you need to provide to help the care agency workers support you?
At the start of the contract, there are bound to be a lot of questions to ask and answer. To get the most out of the arrangement, prepare any questions you may have in advance of the first meeting. Write them down if you are worried about not remembering them on the day. Likewise, the home care agency will need to take some details from you around your background, medical history, capabilities, health and social care needs, local support network, interests, dietary preferences and more. Again, try and gather information together in advance to help with this. The fuller the picture you can provide, the closer the care provision will be to what you really want and need.
There will also be a number of practical considerations to take into account. These could include access to your property – do you want the carers to have their own key, will you let them in yourself, or would you prefer to have a key box installed by the door with a code? Do you want to have a relative or friend present when the carer calls? What tasks are the home carers prepared to undertake while visiting you – and what will they not cover?
What happens if your care needs change – for the better or worse?
Finally, when choosing a home care agency, it is wise to look as far into the future as you can. It is a sad fact of life that our care needs., or those of our loved ones, will change and increase as we age, or as a life-limiting illness progresses. Can the chosen home care agency cope with that and alter the level of care, or list of services they provide further down the line?
What happens if your health improves, or you no longer need quite so much support with social personal care? Make sure you read and understand the contract in terms of how long you are expected to receive the services and what notice period needs to be given if you wish to stop. If you are being funded by your local authority or another body, what happens when this funding stops – can you take over payments yourself if necessary, and will this change affect the cost of the agency’s services?
