Care for some is incredibly important and a necessity. One of the main complication when choosing care is finding the right type of care for you. Live-in care is one of the most popular types of care out there.

There are loads of advantages to receiving care at home. Approximately 418,000 people live in care homes according to stats from MHA. This is 4% of the total population of UK residents aged 65 years and over, rising to 15% of those aged 85 or more. This shows just how popular this type of care is to the elderly community.

According to the Better at Home Report, people who have live-in care are less likely to fall, and, in turn, are less likely to have a hip fracture than people in residential and nursing homes.

It’s not just physical health that benefits from live-in care. The study found people with live-in care have higher levels of happiness with ‘softer’ positive outcomes. This includes receiving home-cooked meals and the sense of freedom and independence that’s maintained from live-in care.

In this guide we are going to take you through some of the advantages of receiving live-in care at home. We are also going to show you some of the considerations that you need to take into account before making your decision, to ensure you truly get the most out of your live-in carer.  

What is live-in care?

Live-in care is the most popular alternative to care homes. It allows the elderly and disabled to be cared for from the comfort of their own home as opposed to living in a care home with a number of other people. This allows them to stay in their own surroundings and this brings with it a number of benefits.

You can keep to your own routine, maintain your independence & privacy and even have the company of a pet if wanted. These are just some of the benefits of live-in care.

The benefits of live-in care

There are loads of benefits of live-in care for those with disabilities or the elderly who struggle to maintain day to day tasks. We spoke to live-in care experts Country Cousins and these are some of their top benefits of live-in care:

• Your Home – You will be living in your own home, so you get to maintain your own environment and make the most of your own home comforts and privacy. 
• Retain your independence – You keep, not just your privacy, but also an element of independence which is one of the key advantages of care from home.
• Stick to your routine – With live-in care, your routine will never be impacted. You can keep your daily routine in place and do what you want when you want.
• See your family and friends as normal – You can see your family and friends whenever you like and don’t need to stick to a visiting timetable.  
• Tailor-made care – Your care is tailor made and your carer can help you as much or as little as you like. 
• Personal support – Your carer can be your friend and offer you emotional support whenever you need it. If you just want a coffee and a chat, that is what your carer is there for. 
• Pets – If you have a pet of any kind, you can keep them because you are in your own home so it’s your rules. 

What types of live-in care are available?

There are multiple types of live-in care available, dependent on your needs. These are some of the types of live-in care you could take advantage of:

• Live-In Care and Support – This is the standard live-in care, where you can take advantage of all the above benefits. 
• Urgent Live-in Care and Support – If you or a relative need urgent and immediate care and support, a carer can be with you within 24 hours if needed.
• Live-in care for disabled adults – The same quality of live-in care provided to the elderly can also be applied with equal value to adults who are living with a disability.

As you can see, there are different types of care for each and every need. There is always something in place to ensure that you are fully cared for. 

Cost effective live-in care

Live-in care costs start at around £798 a week or £3,192 a month. This is in comparison to the average cost of a care home which is around £846 a week, or £3,384 a month. Live-in care is generally considered to be a cheaper alternative to living in a care home.

Despite being cheaper, you get the same level of care as well as being able to maintain your independence from the comfort of remaining at home. 

You also need to consider that, with all forms of home care, you will need to take into account any additional costs associated such as home equipment needed or ongoing bills. You will also need to consider weekly food budgets and general bills such as electricity, gas and water that you’ll also need to pay in your home. 

So as you can see, there are a number of benefits to live-in care. We are here to answer all the questions that you have about live-in care and all forms of care.

If you would like to know more about us, or need to get in contact, please send an email to hello@ukcareguide.co.uk. We will be more than happy to help.