Dementia care in home compared to care home delivery

In recent years, more and more families choose at-home care over residential options for dementia care, when looking after a loved one. This is in part due to soaring costs of care home prices, which make it more difficult to pay for dementia care and costs, but there are also additional benefits to receiving care in your own home. In this article, we will explore why this might be a suitable option when considering what is best for your loved one. 

Costs of care can escalate if dementia care is not managed properly in the first place, which places more pressure on families to find the right dementia care for their loved one.

Why might families choose at home dementia care?

One of the key reasons many families choose live-in care, is often driven by the dementia patient, who wants to be able to remain in their familiar surroundings. On top of this, the cost of living in a residential care home, over live-in care can be significantly different, depending on location (and focusing on just the cost of live-in care provision, not other utilities or bills). It can also be an easier solution, if there are no care home options close to where a dementia patient lives.

In the earlier stages of the disease, it is still possible to support patients to remain independent and often this can support mental wellbeing in dementia care. It is important to ensure that the patient maintains a social circle, or has access to social activities, through social groups, as well as having regular care visits. Later on in dementia care, it might be necessary to have 24 hour live in care, or more specialised medical needs, that need round the clock attention. It is generally in these circumstances where residential care is selected.

If you do need to consider a care home for your loved one, make sure to perform thorough research. We cover this in more detail here. Ensure that the resident’s clothes and fingernails are clean, they look healthy, well taken care of and aren’t underweight. Enquire with the care home on how often the patients have a bath or shower, are they able to go out daily, etc. This will help you choose the best possible option for your loved one, if at-home care is no longer suitable.