Comfort Care for Critical Recovery at Home

How Comfort Care Can Help Critical Care Recovery
Comfort care can be delivered as part of palliative care, end-of-life care, or as part of critical accident or illness recovery. If someone has been receiving critical care, they have most likely been in hospital, very possibly in intensive care. The NHS says intensive care “is needed if someone is seriously ill and requires intensive treatment and close monitoring, or if they’re having surgery and intensive care can help them recover.” While we’re not able to solely provide critical care in your home, our carers will be involved in your wider healthcare team which will most likely include your GP surgery, community nurses, physiotherapist and other healthcare professionals. This will especially be the case if you’re on a palliative care pathway or approaching the end of your life.

Key Areas of Comfort Care
Not everyone wants to remain in hospital long-term; the majority of people would return home if they knew it was an option. With Helping Hands, it is an option though, as we’ve been delivering the very highest standards of care in our customers’ homes since we were established in 1989. This includes:
Personal care
Helping you shower or bathe, toileting and continence care or managing a stoma – there are so many aspects of personal care that we can help you manage.
Symptom management
Our carers will do all they can to help you manage your symptoms, supporting your comfort and following the guidance of your care plan.
Administering medication
Your carer can assist with your medication, whether you need it collected from the pharmacy, managed or administered.
Preparing meals
Carers will support your nutrition and hydration, making sure you eat and drink enough. They’ll prepare your favourites too!
Valued companionship
You’ll never be short of companionship at home with our carers, they’ll support your emotional well-being and be a source of comfort.
Mobility support
Our fully-trained carers provide safe and practical mobility support, whether you are moving around your home or outside.
Benefits of Comfort Care at Home
Hospitals just don’t have the staff and resources to care for you on an individualised basis – that’s not a criticism, just an observation of an overstretched resource. Having care at home, you’ll be supported 1-2-1 by a dedicated carer whose complete focus will be on you and your well-being. Remaining at home offers so much, including:
The Use of Technology
According to Hospice UK, “Digital services are increasingly used across the health and care system in the UK.” Services have expanded locally and nationally over the last few years, which have helped to “reduce waiting times, empower the public and widen access to health and social care services.” The pandemic accelerated technological advancement because, overnight, people were unable to access services face-to-face. This meant many healthcare appointments were conducted virtually, which made life more complicated for people who were not comfortable or fluent with the technology. That’s another area where Helping Hands can support you. So many services are online now, such as ordering medication, buying groceries, and making GP appointments. Your carer will also show you how to access such services and accompany you to the appointments.

Best Practices
We consider it our duty to keep our customers at the centre of their care experience. Since we were established in 1989, Helping Hands has been based on the same family values, and our best practices reflect these values in everything we do. All of our critical care packages are managed by our own team of clinical nurses, who have years of experience in both the NHS and private sector. They ensure that our carers are trained on many of the same equipment you will be familiar with from your time in hospital, such as non-invasive ventilation, feeding tubes, and catheters. They will also manage your stoma and ensure you remain as pain-free as possible, following the directions of your care plan and wider healthcare team. We also consider it our duty to support your emotional wellbeing and that of your loved ones as you all go through this difficult time.

Explore the Benefits of Comfort Care
We offer support on both a visiting and live-in care basis, working alongside family members to give them a break or living in your home with you to reassure relatives far away that you’re in the very best hands. Being cared for in the community you love in the home that means the world to you is beneficial on both a physical and emotional basis so having personalised care delivered by our compassionate carers, will benefit you in ways that can’t be measured. Because – unlike many care providers – our care services are all fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the Care Inspectorate Wales, you can be confident that when we say we’ll do something, we’ll do it. We’re not a care agency we’re a private home care company who own and manage all of our 150 branches across England and Wales ourselves. That means we’ve probably got a branch near you with a dedicated local care team who can advise you on every aspect of your care at home.
