Live in care costs over care home costs

Live-in care costs around £600-£850 per week (for care only). To contrast this, residential care costs around £1000 per week. So over the course of a month, there can be a considerable difference in the cost of care provided for your loved one. It all depends on what is right for your loved one and what is realistic in terms of the stage of their illness. 

Funding is not available for anyone that has assets of more than £23,250, and if the patient lives alone, then the house will be taken into consideration when assets are being calculated, as well as any savings, pension funds and so on. This can often preclude people from funding streams. It might be possible for the house to be excluded from assets, if this is where the dementia patient will remain to receive care, although this does depend on the council. You can find out more information about assets in our article here. Ensure you have financial advice and note that if you are considering how to deal with assets once the dementia diagnosis is known, there is nothing you can do, other than fund the care. Putting assets away to cover costs of care should be considered much earlier in retirement. 

The cost of dementia care is currently a hot political topic and one which is often featured in the press. Recent articles include the increase in dementia diagnoses over the last 5 years, the fact that families are sending their loved ones to Thailand for dedicated 1 to 1 dementia care.

Maintaining the familiar

At-home care provides your loved one with familiar surroundings, which can be especially beneficial for someone with dementia. In their own home, they are able to feel more independent, and friends and family can supplement some of the care, making it more cost effective, whilst enabling the patient to maintain cherished relationships. On top of this, the dementia patient often grows a strong bond with their carer, and can find friendship, which helps to ensure that they are not lonely. 

Often changes to routine and moving to new surroundings can cause anxiety and distress to a person with dementia. Whilst care homes will facilitate this as much as is possible, if they are not well equipped to deal with dementia care, then the transition to care home living may be more challenging. Increases in anxiety in dementia patients leads to many of the difficult behavioural issues experienced in dementia. It can lead to aggression, sundowning, or wandering. If you are considering a move to a care home then you should enquire as to the processes that the care home has in place to deal with the transition. This does not mean that a dementia patient will not settle into a care home environment either.  

If you are looking for help to find a care home, try our care finding service here. We do all of the legwork, to make it easier to find the best care options for your loved one.

To find out more on the routes to care and how to identify the best care for your loved one, take a look on our website here.