AD | Collaborative post
There are broadly three types of care agency, but often there are four types listed. This is not the contradiction that it at first sounds like. Let us look at the various types of care home and their respective purposes:
Residential Care Homes
These are for elderly or vulnerable people who have some level of independence but cannot live by themselves. This can include people recuperating their strength before returning to fully independent single lives, those with learning and physical disabilities as well as the elderly who can no longer manage their own households. Residential care homes can range from something akin to sheltered housing, where the client is independent and can cook and shop for themselves, all the way up to assistance with dressing, hygiene, and nutrition.
Nursing Care Homes
These care homes, as might be ascertained from the name, are for those clients who have serious medical conditions. Thus, someone recovering from a serious illness or injury who no longer needs to be in hospital but is not yet able to take care of themselves will spend a convalescent period in a nursing. As people age, they frequently develop medical condition which require an element of nursing along with residential care homes and, as a result, often nursing care homes will ensure that patients are dressed, washed and fed, in much the same way as a more intensive residential care home, alongside the medical-based care that it offers: providing medication, organising doctor’s appointments and tending to the needs of the clients, who may also be called patients.
Dementia Care Homes
As will be understood by anyone with a loved one suffering from dementia, care homes equipped for dementia patients have a more custodial aspect to them, with locked doors and more restricted access. This is because dementia patients can become confused and leave their accommodations, later being unable to remember their way back home and becoming distressed. Dementia sufferers also frequently forget to eat and drink sufficiently and can suffer dehydration and even malnutrition unless care home staff ensure that they eat and drink regularly. Along with dementia come the indignities of incontinence and a loss to the ability to perform hygiene tasks. This means that dementia care home staff must be endlessly patient and able to deal with the sometimes unpleasant realities of those living with dementia. Dementia care homes can somewhat resemble a detention centre with all the locks and no-access areas, but it is necessary for the safety of the patients – and the peace of mind of their loved ones.
Dual Registered Care Homes
Dual registered care homes are those with certification for both nursing care and residential care. This is the ‘fourth’ type of care home. Opting for a dual registered care home is a good way of anticipating the future and can be kinder to your elderly relative in the long run. In these types of care homes, an elderly person can enjoy a measure of independence for as long as possible, before medical issues arise that mean they need to move over to the nursing care side. The only disruption to their lives in a dual registered home will be a change in the staff who look after them, and perhaps a change of room: their friends, the communal areas and the activities will be unchanged.
Eastleigh Care Homes Devon provide all of the above types of care, so once your loved one has made the move, they will be able to settle in and make friends, knowing that they will not be asked to move at a later date, even if their circumstances change.