Live in Care

[applesareredandgreen]

Has anybody arranged live in care for their parents?

If so, what agency did you use and how did your parents accept This?

Particularly has anybody used 'helping hands' Agency?

Briefly, my parents currently have a couple of hours per day assistance to help my mom wash and dress (she has dementia) and do meals for both my parents. My dad is fairly frail physically, occasionally gets confused but has been unwell on and off for a few weeks and is currently in hospital on antibiotics for an infection, so I'm having to stay with my mom as she is known to wander at night.

Firstly I really want to be back in my own home with my family for Christmas weekend, and secondly I can see this happening again over the course of the winter so I'm currently looking into a live in carer. The agency above said they would be able to put someone in before Christmas but I want o get this right and not rush into something my parents hate.

I did contact them but have not used them or other live in care. Hope someone can advise.

I used to do live in care via dove care agency and country cousins

I did some work for Oxford Aunts many years ago. If you live in that sort of area.

Just wanted to say that my parents had live in care, they each needed help.

After 3 months, the carer (who had 4 hours off every afternoon which we covered) was having to get up multiple times each night and we were about to start having to employ a second carer to cover the nights too.

At that point and because of further deterioration, needed to employ a person to cover the 4 hour breaks, and the potential night time carer, the expense was getting g out of hand, and my parents went into a care home.

So what I'm saying is that carers are not superhuman and it may not be possible for one person to do it all.

Mosaic we have had assessment this afternoon and our current quote is based around support mainly for my mom. This includes waking up to two times a night. I've got some idea of how this works from a carers point of view as I have a friend who did this role for a while. I am expecting that there will be some change in circumstances over coming months but I'm hoping that we will be able to maintain some stability for a little while at least (perhaps an impossible hope!)

Sandwich do you mind me asking what the reason was you didn't go for live in care e.g. Was it around the cost, did you decide another care arrangement was more appropriate to your needs, or any particular issue with the agency? Thanks

Hi I was looking before my Mum had a hip replacement but found we were able to increase her existing carers Who did a week of nights to get her back’ on her feet. Good luck- you need a break.agency were v helpful when I contacted them.

I found care privately (I advertised locally) because I'd tried agency care and found it very, very unsatisfactory.

I can give you a lot of help with this, have had live in care for my parents for 3 years and also moved one into a care home.

Things to think about:

1. You get what you pay for. Carers are usually self employed when they live in so can work for any agency or privately they choose. They’ll pick the ones with the best rates and good care coordinators who take time to match the profile of carers to clients in the hopes people get on well. Don’t skimp on daily rates, don’t skimp on commission. We pay about £85 a day directly to the carer and I think our agency fees are about £100 a month? Really well worth it, we have never been let down and 95% of the carers we have had have been excellent. They usually do 2-4 week stays and will come back again if the placement has gone well (this is what you’re aiming for)

2. if you choose to look privately then be aware that if a carer ever lets you down then you won’t have anyone to step in. This can be hard work, you also have to do all the admin with employing them directly and searching references, background checked etc . Personally I don’t have time to worry about this so agency is by far the best. Likewise not everyone will be a good match for your parents so with agency you can change people if it doesn’t work out.

3. Over a care home, the benefits of live in care are 121 attention round the clock, more tailored care eg preferred food, trips out to visit friends, closer oversight of medical conditions etc . The negatives are that lots of people push back on idea of having someone else “in control” in their home as they find it intrusive, it can still be quite a lonely life and there is much more company in a good care home. We chose a care home eventually for DM for these exact reasons and she’s much happier. She found it increasingly hard being at home unable to do anything due to AD and felt very suffocated by constantly having carers around her.

4. I’d strongly advise you have a very honest relationship with the carers and agency, and make sure they understand you’re there to support them and value their work. An open dialogue is important to help things run smoothly, difficult conversations are often required.

5. things a live in carer will appreciate - own room / bathroom with TV and WiFi, car with any driver insurance for carers to use (try Fish), access to a bank account or cash for shopping, transport etc, a file with background detail on family, personal information, medical history, local services and support, telephone numbers etc. Also get a page-a-day A4 diary for them to write notes which can then be read by you or by future carers.

Please pm me if you want more details of agency etc and good luck

Hey there, I was a live in carer for helping hands :) they were the best care agency I've worked for. If you want to ask me any questions send me a message to my inbox and I'll tell you about the whole process.

We used Helping Hands for a short time - they were brilliant when we needed someone in place really quickly to facilitate hospital discharge. Needs and circumstances changed and we ended up employing someone ourselves for a couple of years - this worked really well for us, but we were extremely lucky - it could have been a disaster - not sure I'd do it that way again - better to have the back up of an agency.

Placemarking