Live in Care vs 24 Hour Care: Which One Do I Need?
What is Live in Care?
Put simply, live-in care is a superb alternative to moving into a care home. If you love your home and are keen to remain living in it, there’s no reason you can’t, regardless of your circumstances. We’ll match a dedicated live-in carer to you who will reside in your home and ensure that you have all the support you need, enabling you to remain as independent as possible.
You can have one, two or more live-in carers residing in your home and they can work together or on opposite shift patterns, depending on your requirements. Remember, live-in and 24-hour care is delivered on your terms in your own home, meaning you remain in control of your daily routines and get to live the way you want to, not how a care home dictates.
What is 24 Hour Care at Home?
24-hour care at home is usually for someone who has complex care needs or a condition that means they cannot be left alone. For instance, someone could be living with advanced dementia, which means they need constant care during the day and then wake throughout the night. Or it could be that a person is approaching the end of their life and needs to be monitored both during the day and night. There are various circumstances where someone could require around-the-clock care and support.
The Differences Between the Two
In principle, both live-in care and 24-hour care require at least one person to be resident in your home with you; however, with traditional live-in care, you may be able to be left alone while your carer takes a break, whereas this wouldn’t happen with 24-hour care. Many of our live-in care customers have loved ones who come and cover the carer’s break themselves or carers from Helping Hands’ local visiting service in their area does it, whereas 24-hour care would usually see you have two live-in carers because often the circumstances mean the care cannot be carried out by one person. Regardless of the type of care you choose – live-in or 24-hour, they both enable you to have the best of both worlds. The benefits include:
You can remain living in the home you love
You control what you eat and when
Personalised, one-to-one dedicated care at home
Your lifestyle and routines continue as they always have
Your family and friends have no restrictions on visiting
Nurse-managed care for complex conditions
When May These Methods of Care Be Needed?
There are many reasons why people choose these types of support and the benefits of live in care are numerous. Some people choose it because they have recently lost a partner and are missing having someone to talk to. We provide companionship as well as all of the practical help that having care at home can bring, and many people are greatly reassured by knowing that they – or a loved one – are never alone at home. Other people choose live-in care at home because they have highly complex care needs and prefer to remain living at home rather than moving into residential care. This is understandable because home means so much more than just somewhere to sleep – it means memories, familiarity, comfort and safety.
Which Form of Care Do I Need?
The type of care that will suit you best really depends on what you are looking for from your care package. Are you living with a serious condition that means you need someone with you at all times, or are you more interested in having companionship for a few hours a day? Live-in care can offer whatever type of support you need, with the reassurance that should your circumstances change, and you need to increase to 24-hour care in the future, we can arrange that for you. All of our care packages are designed exclusively for the customer’s needs – we don’t offer ‘one size fits all’ care and would never want to.
Explore Expert Live in and 24 Hour Care from Helping Hands
You may still be wondering what is 24 hour care at home, but by chatting to our friendly customer care team you can get the answers to all of your questions. Perhaps you’re still not sure whether your needs would be better met by a live-in or around-the-clock carer, but that’s really all down to what you would like them to do and how much you need them to be there. Your round-the-clock care will be overseen by your local care manager and delivered on your own terms, which means you get the benefit of our decades of experience and our knowledgeable and compassionate carers. Whether you just want someone to take you out for coffee or you need nurse-managed complex care, our support services, all fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the Care Inspectorate Wales, will see you always in the very best hands.
