2 Different Types of Care Homes Available for The Elderly in the UK

The United Kingdom is a very diverse platform for care homes, there are almost over 10,500 registered care homes for the elderly, and some are run by private individuals while others are owned and run by the government, and housing associations.

In total, they can provide up to 436,000 places to live, and more are being built in the outskirts as we speak. Besides this, there are also other forms of a home that are run by the NHS, which is a network of service providers, from different organizations that different responsibilities and specialties. They provide different services to both carers and patients, and more about it can be found on their website.

The region has two types of care homes, and this article will give you a brief and simple understanding of what each entail.

A Residential Care Home

These are the facilities that provide a resident with living accommodation, help with their care and meals throughout the day. Some even offer some additional activities both indoors and outdoors.

Those who are struggling to live on their own or independent of any family or friends are best suited to this environment where they can live with other residents of a similar age group and demeanor. Here they can be provided any support that is needed from things such as washing themselves, going to the toilet, or dressing, perhaps because of being too frail or due to various common age-related problems.

Here the environment is more of an active one where they do group tasks, play games, go out for walks, and socialize. The people that look after the inhabitants in residential homes such as Birmingham based care home, for example, are usually available for 24 hours of the day and night, and 7 days a week from Monday to Sunday. However, the nurses will not be available for the duration of this period, they usually work specific times and shifts, and only when called.

In the UK, these facilities can cost anywhere from an average of £650 per week or just over £33800 per year. This according to a study done by a research institute. However, there is a reason for this, as it includes not just accommodation but other additional things too.

The nice thing about this is it would typically include everything from a group trip to leisure facilities like spas and massage centers, or various outings to many different places and sight-seeing, they even have arts and crafts activities offered at the home, or flower arrangement and the residents often play games such as cards and dominoes or do exercises, gardening or attend music evenings.

A Nursing Home

This facility will cost you anything from £890 and up, or £46500 per year. Details about the breakdown of these costs can be found on any local authority in England.

These are the types of homes that also provide nursing services and personal nurses for individual patients because they concentrate on specific health problems and the specific needs of the patients. Those that live here mostly have age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s, a brain disorder, which can be read about on this link: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-alzheimers-disease#:.

The nursing home provides more of the medical practitioners needed to help with specific health problems and the residents are more like patients rather than tenants. They are provided with a local general practitioner, and a district nurse, a holistic therapist, a physiotherapist and hairdresser, and even a priest.

Here they are usually much older than those that stay in the residential homes, although that may not be the case with everyone. They do however require supervision and medical care in these places. They are like residential homes but include everything from the accommodation to help with bathing, dressing, and using the facilities. They also have qualified nurses that are on site 24 hours a day seven days a week.

When deciding which one to go for, keep in mind whether now or in a year your parent or guardian will need special care or if they can do everything on their own and would prefer a livelier neighborhood to live in.