What is long term care?
Long-term care is for people living with a serious illness who require additional support.
Long term care is a branch of care that addresses the needs of people living with serious or debilitating illnesses who are unable to care for themselves.
The main objective of long-term care is to ensure the patient receives consistent, regulated care that addresses any medical conditions they may have and ensures they’re able to enjoy the best possible quality of life and experience independence.
What long term care services are available?
When it comes to receiving long-term care, there are a number of paths you can take depending on your personal preferences and needs. Find out more about live-in care, palliative care and end-of-life care:
Live-in care
Palliative care
End-of-life care
Amazing carers, delivering quality care
What are the benefits of long term care at home?
Long-term care offers a continuous support solution to help you manage from day to day.
Our long-term care focuses on ensuring you can maintain your well-being and independence for as long as possible. Here are some of the many benefits you might experience with long-term care:
Manage your condition
Long-term care can help you manage the symptoms of your condition and enjoy a better quality of life for longer
Physical support
Long-term care can help with your mobility, with your carer able to support your physiotherapy and general mobility assistance around your home
Friendly companionship
All of our carers are handpicked for their kind, compassionate personalities, which means they offer great company and exceptional friendship
Can work out cheaper
Starting care early on in your condition can help slow down the rate at which symptoms progress, reducing the care you may need in the future
Peace of mind
Long-term care gives you and your family peace of mind that you’re being fully supported, and your condition is constantly being monitored
Maintain your independence
Starting long-term care today will mark the start of a renewed sense of independence, as you’ll be able to spend more time doing the things you enjoy
Preparing for long term care
It’s important to be aware of your long-term care options so that you get the very best care.
When preparing for long-term care, it’s essential to choose a care provider who offer a care service that meets your needs and can be adapted as your loved one’s condition progresses.
At Helping Hands, our care experts will provide you or your loved one with a comprehensive review of your needs, preferences and circumstances to ensure we can curate a package of care that is completely to your liking. We appreciate that long term care isn’t always an easy idea to come to terms with, so we want to make it as straightforward and stress-free a process as possible.
Why Helping Hands?
With over 30 years’ experience, we’re the number one choice for home care in the UK.
We’re extremely proud of our team of expert carers and the commitment they show to providing exceptional private care to our customers day in, day out. All of our carers are fully trained to support people with a wide range of conditions and needs, and can assist you around the home in whatever way you may require – from doing the laundry and preparing meals to helping you get dressed.
Person-centred support
Your care plan will be fully designed around your needs and wishes, ensuring you always get the right type and level of support
A fully managed care service
Every aspect of your support will be managed by your local care team, with input from care experts and our clinical leads
Exceptional, compassionate carers
We only recruit and train the most kind and empathetic people, because we believe that they make for the very best carers
Hear from some of our customers
We love sharing testimonies about how people are able to live happy, healthy lives as a result of our support. Read about how our home care is helping two of our customers, Robert and Hannah, to be more independent and confident on a daily basis.
Robert
Hannah
Long-term care customer
A fully regulated home care provider
Here at Helping Hands, our service is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
This means we need to consistently meet high standards and are monitored by our regulators.
Why is being a regulated care provider important?
Independent inspections of our service, giving you peace of mind
Fully vetted, high-quality carers
Guaranteed training and development for our staff
How to arrange care
Speak to our team
Our friendly, knowledgeable team can answer your questions and talk you through your options. We are available 7 days a week.
Book a free care assessment
Your local Helping Hands care manager will visit you to understand your needs and preferences and discuss how we can help. We can visit you at home, in hospital or even a care home to carry out the care assessment.
Confirm your care package
We create a tailored care plan for you to review. Once you’ve agreed the plan, we can organise care in as little as 24 hours.
Long term care FAQs
The main difference between a nursing home and long-term care from Helping Hands is that with support from us, you’ll be able to receive all the support you need whilst remaining in the home that you love.
This means you’ll get a package of care that is fully tailored to your personal needs and circumstances, and won’t ever be left feeling isolated or unsupported.
The alternatives to long-term care are either to move your loved one to a nursing home, or for family and friends to care for them at home. It’s also possible to receive long-term care alongside support from a family member or friend.
You can arrange long-term care today by calling our friendly customer support team, who are available seven days a week and are always happy to talk through your care options.
Page reviewed by Kathryn Mahon, Regional Clinical Lead, on July 25, 2024.
How we wrote this page
This page has been produced referencing key insights and data from external experts, trusted medical sources and our team of in-house specialists. We have worked hard to ensure that all information is as accurate as possible and reflects current consensus at the time of writing and review in