What to Know About How A Personal Carer Can Support You
When you or a loved one needs care, it can be difficult deciding on the best route. Getting a personal carer involved is a great way to ensure you keep your independence while also receiving the sufficient care and support you require. Read on to find out everything you need to know about the amazing benefits of personal home care.
What is a personal carer?
A carer or personal assistant supports you so that you can live as independently as possible in your own home. They might work for only a few hours a week, or several hours each day (or night) – and help with a range of tasks to make your life easier.
What responsibilities do personal carers undertake?
A home carer provides flexible care at home to an individual or couple for varying lengths of time, helping out with daily housekeeping tasks and personal support to assist with independent living, meal preparation and running errands. The duties of a home carer can be anything from daily visits to check that an elderly customer is well and prepare their lunch, all the way up to round-the-clock live-in care. Their duties consist of both practical and emotional support, with the ultimate aim of enabling their customer to thrive at home and live well with any health conditions they may have. As well as helping with the practicalities, carers are also there as a friendly face that you can rely upon and get to know.
Home care jobs and responsibilities often include:
- Mobility support
- Bathing, grooming & dressing assistance
- Special diets and feeding assistance
- Transferring & positioning
- Toileting & incontinence care
- Mobility assistance
- Oral hygiene
- Medication reminders
- Prepare meals with or for you and assist you at mealtimes.
- Domestic help including housework, laundry, ironing, shopping, pension collection, and gardening
- Escorting to appointments and social events
- General companionship
Why might someone need personal homecare services?
You might want to consider care at home if:
- you’re finding it difficult to cope with daily routines, such as washing, dressing and getting out and about
- you do not want to move into a care home
- you can still get about your home and it’s safe for you to live in – or it can be adapted to make it safe
At Cadog Homecare, our learning disability support care service aims to not only enhance the quality of life of our clients, but also to assist them with the task of successfully living at home independently. We achieve this by encouraging self-sufficiency where possible, as well as incorporating the improvement of communication and life skills into our learning disability support, including money management and travel, job interview preparation, and even helping our clients to discover new hobbies.
What are the benefits of care at home?
There are many benefits to receiving care at home:
Home care lets you remain in familiar surroundings
Being cared for at home means you will continue to live where you are the most safe and comfortable, in your own home surrounded by friends and family. This is particularly relevant for older people and those living with dementia. It is common to have lived in the same place for a long time, collecting memories and personal items which can be difficult to separate from. Care at home enables you to keep sleeping in your own bed, relaxing in your favourite lounge chair and soaking up the sun in your own garden.
Receiving care at home also allows you to stay with the people you love. For example, if only one person in an elderly couple needs care, choosing care at home avoids separation, which can cause anxiety and worry for everyone involved.
No need to uproot and sell your home
If you choose residential care, it’s possible that you’ll be required to sell your home in order to cover the fees. Selling your home alongside trying to find care can be extremely challenging – choosing home care over residential care removes the worries of everything that selling your home involves, such as what to do with all your things, estate agent fees, and the emotional toil that comes with moving away from a space where you feel safe and secure.
Home care is flexible to suit your needs
When you arrange care at home, you will receive a personalised care plan fully tailored to your needs, preferences and lifestyle. Home care can be arranged on a temporary basis, for example if you require reablement following a hospital stay or an injury, or it can be long-term. You will have the option of short visits all the way through to 24-hour live-in care if this is what you require.
You only pay for the care you need
When you receive home care, the fees involved are only for the time that you are being cared for as opposed to in residential care where costs also cover things like utility bills. For example, if a care worker visits you three times per week, and each visit is one hour, you will only pay for those three hours.
Retain independence and lifestyle
Home care can be provided to fit around your lifestyle and schedule. Retaining independence is important, especially for people’s mental wellbeing, and is a big focus for most home care providers. With care at home, you will be able to choose your own schedule, leave the house when you wish to and maintain your hobbies and interests, such as gardening. You will also be able to keep your routines and continue to be a part of your community.
Maintain relationships
As well as making it possible to keep your home comforts to hand, receiving care at home also means that you can continue to welcome visitors whenever you choose. Perhaps you are a part of a club or organisation that meets at certain times, or your family has regular Sunday dinners, with care at home you can continue to spend your time with others as much as you wish.
Person-centred, one-to-one care
Home care services are highly personalised, and you will receive one-to-one care each time a care worker visits you. This means that for the duration of their visit, the care worker will be fully focused on just you, allowing them more dedicated time to get to know you as a person, understand your needs and provide care and support to suit you.
Your family can be more involved
When you move into residential care, sometimes a suitable care home for your needs may be further away from your family and loved ones, which will be particularly difficult if they provide regular support and companionship. Remaining at home allows your loved ones to continue to be involved in your care and play a larger part in your care plan.
Pets allowed
Receiving care at home means you’ll be able to keep your pets close. Some care homes do not allow pets and it can be difficult to come to terms with leaving them. Whilst it may seem unimportant to some, pets provide comfort and companionship and can have a hugely positive impact on wellbeing. For many people, pets are an extremely important part of their life and having them around can make a big difference, especially if they’ve lost loved ones.
Professional homecare services and live-in care with Cadog Homecare
Cadog Homecare Ltd offers domiciliary care services across Wales, committed to improving the quality of life of our clients as well as enabling them to live safely in their own homes. Our domestic care and personal hygiene support service is one of our most popular and flexible options here at Cadog Homecare, as we are able to offer it across all communities in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Powys, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.
As part of our commitment to offer a personalised service to our clients, we will take the time to get to know you and understand your circumstance, before working together to create a domestic care plan that is tailored to your requirements. We deliver our home care services with dignity, kindness and respect, and each of our personal carers are trained to adapt their care should your needs or preferences change. Whether you are recovering from an illness or injury that prevents you from following your daily routine, or even if you’re finding that age is starting to impair your ability to carry out everyday tasks, Cadog Homecare is here to help.
Our assisted living services are undertaken by care professionals who have a genuine passion for helping people. Contact us today to find out more about what we can do for you.