Live-in care support in return for free room and board?

[Jaybee99]

I am 60 years old and in good health, and want to explore the possibility of getting free room and board in return for light care duties. I would continue to work from the home, online, 3 days per week and go into the office 2 days per week, working normal office hours 9 to 5. In return I can offer shopping, cooking(I cook well), cleaning, driving and being available 5 days out of 7. I would probably need to go out 2 evenings per week to keep some sort of social life.

Is this something that people might be interested in? Or does it have too many restrictions. I think the main thing that would count against me is that I am male, I guess..

If you’re working full time (3 days from home, 2 days in the office) and going out 2 evenings a week, it sounds like you’re offering to do light duties 3 evenings a week in return for all your rent, bills and ‘board’ (presumably food?) paid.

If ‘light duties’ were 2-3 hours on 3 evenings a week, you’d be getting an awful lot for 6-9 hours work. That doesn’t sound like a fair deal.

I think that people that need the kind of help you are offering would need a lot more of your time than you realise.

You're wfm 3 days, in thd office 2 days so you're only available 2 days a week. You're out 2 nights a week. I wouldn't employ you regardless of being male or female.

I think normally it’s a low cost as opposed to zero cost accommodation. I do think it’s a thing though. Pay a couple of hundred quid a monthand do some light errands & meals and generally be another person in the house in the evening/ overnight.

Personally I’d pop an add up on gumtree, I assume you want to be local for work? There are agencies but I think it means you both pay a monthly fee.

www.shareandcare.co.uk/

I might consider it for a family member if you had a DBS and public liability insurance. You being male wouldnt bother me, in fact, sometimes it's a positive. Especially for a male client.

Do you have any relatives you could volunteer your services for? I wouldn't be paying any money either. You should be able to stay there for free (buying your own food).

There are agencies that offer this kind of thing. The one that I know of in Ireland is called Elder Home Share. I would recommend that over a private arrangement tbh. The agency will do checks and draw up the contract. The downside for the person moving into the older person’s home is that there is no guarantee that you can stay for as long as you want, if it doesn’t suit the home owner then you have to move out straight away, so you would need a contingency plan to cover that eventuality.

My DB and I are trying to persuade my Mum to do this. She’s on her own and has fallen a few times so it would be a weight off our minds if there was someone there at night who could phone us if needed.

Well, that site says the carers offer 15 hours per week ‘of practical help & company’ & I would imagine that when those hours are would have to be negotiated with the person getting the care.

If you are live in it wouldn’t be long before you were at their beck and call, especially if their care needs increased.
Fall-they’d call you.
Vomiting at 3am -you’d be very handy.
Sudden UTI and prescription needing collection-you’d have to get it on your way back from the office etc etc etc.
there’s a reason that sleep in night carers get extra pay.

If you lived in I would expect a lot more than that. There’s a reason why carers are always exhausted, your living in fantasy land.

There are plenty of hrs outside the 9 to 5 and even with a couple of eve out there can be support.

Light DIY and house maintenance
CLeaning is not restricted to a time
Weekly shops or light errands like PO, chemist, other shops
meals breakfast and evening and maybe leaving a sandwich for lunch or doing lunch the days you are there etc.

You might not want to get involved with medical errands tho.

The main thing is another human in the house for chit chats and security and just being there if there is an issue.

My Grandmother did this for years - usually as respite for other more permanent carers she loved nipping about and living at other peoples expense and providing basic care needs etc. Hers was all expenses included but was only short term.

My dad has just started this sort of arrangement. I must admit to being nervous about it as he is vulnerable and I wouldn’t have supported it if it hadn’t been suggested by someone I trust. And the carer was available because her previous host had moved into residential care and we were able to talk to that host’s daughter. So I think what I’m saying is there are people who would consider this you need to think carefully about what references you could provide.

re fantasy land - I think there are people with lower levels of care needs that this could suit so don't rule it out just cos there are others that are bed ridden

getting free room and board in return for light care duties

From the sound of it, the care would be very light!

Just what are you envisaging, apart from free board & lodgings?

as an aside these jobs always used to be advertised in the back of "the Lady" magazine

You could easily do 15 hours by a couple of hours most evenings and then a longer weekend day. I’m not saying it’s for everyone. I know my uncle and his wife are considering something similar, no personal care, they are both very fit but are travelling quite a lot and it’s a big house to lock up and leave. So considering maybe a room for someone who could live rent free in exchange for house sitting/ gardening/ a bit of cleaning. They’d have their own bathroom/ sitting room if needed space but someone generally chatty and nice would slot right in.

@Jaybee99 its a pretty common service tbh.
It usually matches young people with older people who need support at a reasonable price.

You can have a look at those:
https://supportmatch.co.uk/
https://twogenerations.co.uk/

id have a look around your area if there isn’t something more local that offers similar services too.

Fwiw seeing the cost of renting a room in shared accommodation, I think it’s a good deal for the person staying in. And it’s a good deal fir you too simply because finding a cleaner is easy but someone to cook is much harder.

Except they’re not carers!!
More like a cleaner/cook.

And if the person/OP was starting to ask too much
1- that’s why using an agency can be great. They can relay the message or simply stop the agreement
2- the person providing help (NOT care. Cooking, cleaning, light gardening g is help, NOT personal care) can still keave. They’re not bound to the home owner.

@Jaybee99 Sorry for whatever reason, I read your OP the wrong way around (as in you getting the support).

Having said that, I feel the bigger obstacle with agencies is that theyd be worried you could physically cope. They usually want younger people.
But as the home owner, I suspect many people would appreciate someone your age.

The one thing I’d be careful about (whether you’d go through an agency or a DIY approach) is to have a clear contract on what you’d do.

think about it at £15 an hour - how much is a room where you live? If £150 a week typically you need to be doing 10 hours ish of chore for your room. So cleaning, gardening, general home help type things (laundry, changing bedding) plus shopping perhaps. Are you quite chatty, that’s often why people want a companion

Yes there’s definitely a market for this. There are a lot of older people who don’t need personal care but need some support. Home Share is one organisation but they explicitly match younger people with older ones. Still, if you were matched with someone aged 100 you are quite a lot younger..,

Being male isn’t an issue because it may be a male who wants some live in care.

If I was your employer I think I’d be concerned about you taking on this extra work when you have a full time job. Yes it’s unpaid, but it’s still a demand on your time when you would be working.

I also think offering cleaning, shopping, cooking - all great and very useful. But if you are living in I expect most people would want companionship too, which you aren’t providing if you are working full time.

You might do better to pitch it as paying a reduced rent in exchange for some support, rather than free rent for full care.

In addition to a full background check, what references would you be able to provide?

You say you cook well, but how flexible are you? The person you’d care for might have very different culinary tastes.

Would you be willing to fall in with their daily rhythm and habits, for instance in terms of getting up/going to bed/quiet hours, or the degree to which they expect you to be neither seen nor heard

Well, I was more thinking:

1. Preparing breakfast & washing up after
2. Preparing lunch & clearing up.
3. Providing local lifts/shopping
4. Evening meal
5. Prescriptions - ensuring they are used timely & retrieving them frpm the chemist.
6. Generally being around the house, most of the time, 5 days out of 7, and even on the remaining 2 days, being there in the evening. In the meantime, I'd make teas/coffees, snacks. I'd be on hand in case of any emergency.
7. Hoovering, clothes washing, gardening, fixing anything that needs fixing.

I dunno, seems like a fair amount in return for no pay...Certainly, when you consider how much a full-time carer costs..

It sounds a bit like being an au pair, but for older people. Agree with pps that an agency would be better than a private arrangement.

I do also think you need to be careful re housing. I remember a documentary or news segment or something on homelessness and there was a woman on that who had lost her home as she had been a live in carer but had injured her arm and couldn't do her work properly. She'd lost her live in job and was obviously then made homeless 😔

Read what’s included as ‘duties’ from the agencies. It’s much less than that.

I had a look for myself and I wouldn’t expect someone to do as much as you’re proposing.
Youd need to be very clear on boubdaries agd what is or isn’t in your remit. Otherwise, yes it could easily slide into you CARING fir them rather than just HOUSE HELP