6 Advantages of Live-in Care over a Care Home
When it comes to caring for a senior loved one or parent, you know there are several options for you to choose from. You can do the work on your own, but if you are in no position to do that when it comes down to moving the person to a care home or arranging live-in care for them.
Both of these options are great, as they mean the person will receive the help they need, all the while not being left on their own. However, live-in care is rising in popularity for a good reason. It has a few advantages over moving the person to a care facility:
- The person doesn’t need to leave their home – the most important advantage that live-in care holds over a care home is that the person won’t need to leave their familiar and safe environment. Moving to an unfamiliar care facility is always a stressful idea for seniors. They feel like abandoning their safe home is a major step towards a rather uncertain future. When they can remain in their own home, they are more receptive to the idea of getting help. Besides, since they have their comfortable environment, they are more at ease, which affects their health and wellbeing.
- The seniors maintain their independence – another benefit to live-in care is that the person can continue their life pretty much the same way as before. The only difference is that there will be someone else helping them out with the more difficult tasks. Seniors can spend their days the same way as before, and even introduce new activities with the help of the caregiver, such as gardening for example. Visits from relatives can continue without an issue and even recommended.
- The senior receives a personalised service – when it comes to live-in care, the service always takes into consideration the personal needs of the senior. This means the caregiver will be there to assist with the tasks the senior cannot quite address on their own. Unlike a care home, where a limited number of staff services many seniors, in live-in care there is one-to-one personalised service.
- The service is flexible – another advantage that live-in holds over care home is that the service can be changed over time, as the needs of the senior change. For example, if they develop some sort of moving disability, or perhaps if their dementia symptoms worsen, the live-in care service can change to accommodate. Perhaps the caregiver could be a person with special expertise to handle this sort of case. In any case, live-in is much more customisable and adjustable than care home services, which are mostly made to cater to more individuals, without taking personal needs into account.
- Seniors can keep their pets – separating a senior from their pet, especially if the latter has been part of their life for a long time, can be devastating. That is why it is so good that they can keep their pets with the help of a live-in care service. The idea is that they can remain in their home, and in fact, the caregiver can help them out with walking and feeding.
- Loved ones and friends can still visit – unlike a care home, where visiting hours are usually restricted, live-in care service encourages other people to visit the senior. Since they remain in their own home, they can get all the visits they want.
All of these are major advantages of live-in care for seniors over a care home. Do consider them, if you are wondering which one to arrange.
