Benefits Of Live-in Care Compared To Home Care And Residential Care Homes

By Author: Charlotte Amor
Total Articles: 2
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Many people often wonder what the difference is between live-in care and residential care, and what the benefits are for not only the client but also for the carers that do these jobs. This article aims to provide information on the job roles along with the benefits of live-in care to not only the clients but carers and some of the feedback from carers which have done these care jobs.

Describe live-in care jobs UK –
For live-in care jobs UK, you will be expected to work 7 days a week with minimal time off during this time, for a set placement time (this depends on the agency that you are with and can range from 2 weeks to 8 weeks), you will then have a few weeks off as holiday before you then go back into placement. You are also required to live and work away from home for the placement which may be a struggle for some such as families with young children. Placements can either be local or across the UK depending on the agency. The live-in carer will help with all tasks including shopping, cooking and cleaning so can be great for those who just need a little extra help and companionship as well as those who have ...
... disabilities.

Describe home care -
Home care is when a carer travels to clients homes to help them, the level of care does depend on the clients needs but can range between just sitting and chatting to them (companionship) to personal care such as bathing, medication and so on for those needing more care such as those with disabilities. Usually a home carer will visit a number of clients each day and travel from client to client with just an hour or two at each.

Describe residential care homes -
Care homes are in a group setting and can range between a small number of clients to a large number depending on the size of the home. The type of care provided in a care home does vary and it is typical to find ones specialising in a particular disability or illness, such as dementia. Care will be given 24/7 as a carer will always be on duty so suit those who may need extra attention, so would not suit whose who just need companionship.

Benefits of live-in care –
• Live-in care provides 1-1 bespoke care which is tailored to the client’s needs and can range between companionship to care for those with disabilities. The problem with care homes is that this can be hard to maintain and if you can imagine 20 clients all needing to go to the bathroom at the same time; it can make caring very hard for the carer and also to the client who deserves to have such a basic need seen to straight away but may have to wait.
• Building a relationship can be hard when a carer has 20 other clients who need care in a care home, or alternatively in home care only has an hour or two before having to dash off to their next client. With live-in care a carer has 24/7 to build up a great relationship with the client and really get to know them.
• Many carers find that even simple things such as knowing where things are in a clients home from being used to the environment and spending time there does really make life easier for them and speed up everyday tasks. This is hard if a carer can only spend a couple of hours there though!
• 24/7 care is an obvious advantage compared to home care, but is also relevant to residential care homes also as it is hard to provide efficient care when you may have one carer working at night to every single resident! A live-in carer will be able to provide care 24 hours a day on demand.
• Clients get to stay in their own home environment which is a very big positive compared to residential care homes. Moving home can be a very stressful and sad time for somebody and promotes a loss of independence. It is proven that staying in a familiar environment has positive effects on clients and having their own personal possessions such as pictures and ornaments around them can be a great help.
• Live-in care jobs UK promotes independence and is very flexible, for example, a client can get up at whatever time suits them, they can have family and friends to visit whenever they wish and they even get to keep their well-loved pets! This is not possible in a residential care home and everything is very much structured.