Choosing Care

Choosing a Care Home will be one of the most emotional and expensive decisions you’ll ever have to make in your life.

You’ll want to find a home that suits the person with dementia, where they can be happy and get the support that they need. It can appear daunting when you first set out, but there are a number of key aspects to look out for when choosing the right Care Home for the patient. 

Identifying the right care homes to visit

Make sure you compile a list of homes to visit. You don’t want to narrow your search too much and only visit one or two. The more you visit, the greater chance you will have of finding the right home. The first step is to contact each home and enquire as to the level of dementia care, waiting lists, the fees etc. It is also important to visit the Care Home Inspectors website and download the latest Inspector’s reports for each of the homes you have chosen to visit. You can use the Care Quality Commission site here CQC care homes

 to view their reports to help you identify the care reviews of each home. 

Your first round of visits should be done on your own, with a relative or, even better, someone with experience and knowledge of the care home system. You should only take the patient around when you have a shortlist of good care homes to visit. Weed out the homes that don’t come up to scratch. 

Some homes do offer a day care service, but it will be possible to ‘try before you buy’ and test the water with the home. However, bear in mind, the home will be on their best behaviour, so if you find issues/faults then, the likelihood is there will be more on a normal day and when the person is living there. 

The Care Home building

When looking at the actual building, the care home itself, it’s important to remember that whilst people may want a home that looks like a plush country house, this is not practical for someone with dementia. They don’t need lavish decorations, they need plain, bright spaces, with contrasting wall and floor coverings, coloured toilets etc. An environment that is more ‘Children’s Nursery’ than country manor may not be what you want, but this is what is far more practical for the person with dementia. 

Although people go into care homes for a number of reasons, it has been found through studies that nearly 90% of people in the care home system are suffering from dementia. If the care home you are visiting has no provision for dementia friendly design, then it’s not the right home for you. 

There is a recognised certification scheme for care homes that have dementia friendly designs (The DSDC certificate). Check if the home has this or not. Tips on how to design and layout your own home, in our other articles, will give you an idea of what the care home should look like with regards to design. Remember the key principles - Light / Bright / Obvious