How Domiciliary Care Supports Independence in Older Adults
Understanding Domiciliary Care and Its Role in Senior Independence
We all want to remain independent as we age; it’s obvious that – after running their own lives for so many years – our customers want to continue making their own decisions about their care wherever possible and live in their own homes for as long as possible. Just because someone is getting older and needs support with everyday tasks doesn’t mean they can’t continue to live in the home they love. Domiciliary Care — or receiving care in your own home — is a popular alternative to moving into residential care, but some people don’t understand it’s even an option. Helping Hands have been offering care in our customers’ homes since we were established in 1989 so it’s no surprise we’re considered the UK’s most trusted home care provider.
Why Maintaining Independence Matters for the Elderly
Just because someone has reached their senior years doesn’t mean their wishes for everyday life are different to how they’ve always been. Remaining at the heart of a community they know well or being able to look across views they’ve always enjoyed brings comfort to many people and realising that they don’t have to move into residential care can boost both physical and emotional wellbeing. Ageing can make people consider what’s important to them, and wanting to live in comfortable and familiar surroundings becomes increasingly important. This also keeps them in close contact with family, friends and cherished memories and enables them to retain a level of control over their own lives.
Key Ways Domiciliary Care Supports Independence
Domiciliary Care for elderly people is beneficial in so many ways. The emotional benefits of remaining in familiar surroundings, where you continue to be in control of your own life and have people you want around you, cannot be overestimated. Other ways it supports independence include:
Assistance with Daily Living
Domiciliary care plans are tailored to the way the customer wants to live, promoting self-sufficiency through control of their own life. Putting a care plan together is a collaborative process that involves the customer, their loved ones, the care provider and any wider healthcare team. This ensures that everyone knows their role in keeping the customer living independently.
Supporting Mobility for Self-sufficiency
Moving safely around their own home and ensuring it is designed to support them is crucial for people receiving domiciliary care. Not only will it benefit their daily lives and ensure their care is tailored to them, but their caregiver must also have the necessary equipment to carry out their role safely and effectively so that both parties can get the most out of their relationship.
Choosing their own meals
We all have favourite foods we enjoy and when you’re living in your own home you have the right to choose what you eat and drink and when. Unlike residential care, you get to choose your mealtimes, the foods you eat and the frequency of them, after all, variety is the spice of life! Our carers will prepare your choices and ensure your nutrition is always a priority.
Encouraging Social Engagement
Emotional wellbeing is crucial to promote physical health. By having care at home you’ll avoid social isolation and loneliness through your carer’s regular visits or by someone living in your home with you. Caregivers aren’t just there for the practical tasks of support, they are also there to chat and engage in meaningful activities, all designed to foster a sense of connection.
Choosing the Right Domiciliary Care for Your Needs
When you choose domiciliary care from Helping Hands, you’re not just receiving support in your own home from compassionate and knowledgeable carers. You’re also receiving the benefit of our decades of experience in supporting people to live as well as possible. We build your care around you, ensuring you get to live with dignity, freedom and choice at all times. Domiciliary care should always be flexible in its approach and able to mould to the person’s requirements as their condition or circumstances change. Just because a person needs additional support with their daily routine doesn’t mean they should lose control over their own life and be unable to make their own choices.
We began as a family business but now have 150 branches across the whole of England and Wales. Small enough to care but big enough to cope, we’ve retained the family values that we were founded with and become the UK’s most trusted private home care provider, fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the Care Inspectorate Wales.
