Moving your loved one to a care home is an emotional affair. Not only finding the best one within affordability is a tricky choice, the baggage of sending family members away to a care home is a difficult decision- especially within Asian households. While from childhood we are told about our duty to look after our elderly parents and grand parents, but even unwantedly we hand over our family members to care homes- often for their own safety and the much needed round the clock attention.
However before you choose to move yourself or select a care home service for your family member you need to consider the following:
- Do you/your family member actually need a care home?
- What type of care home do you want?
- How do I find a care home in my area?
- What should I look for in a care home?
It may have been suggested to you that you need a care home because of an accident or some other event, but it is not always the right decision. In fact, there may be other options available, such as:
- adapting your home to make life easier
- getting some support to help you with things that are becoming difficult
- moving into sheltered housing, where you can live independently but where there is support on-site.
What type of care home do you want?
Care homes are all different from one another, so it’s important to choose the one that’s right for you. They can be run by private companies, local authorities or voluntary organisations.
Care homes: Help with personal care, such as washing, dressing, taking medication and going to the toilet. They may also offer social activities such as day trips or outings.
Nursing homes: Sometimes called care homes with nursing. Personal care as well as assistance from qualified nurses.
Care homes with dementia care: Sometimes called elderly mentally ill (EMI) homes. They are designed to make people with dementia feel comfortable and safe.
Dual-registered care homes: They accept residents who need both personal care and nursing care. This means that someone who initially just needs personal care but later needs nursing care won’t have to change homes.
How will you find a care home in your area?
Treat finding a suitable care home like buying a new house. You can initially search online. But after that go there and see the place personally. You need to get a feel for what’s out there before making a decision.
The Elderly Accommodation Counsel provides a directory of over 40,000 retirement housing and care homes in the UK. Or see HousingCare.org. Personal recommendations are also important, so talk to friends or relatives, as they may be able to point you towards a home with a good reputation.
What should I ask for in a care home?
This list is very important and includes vital points for consideration, such as- security, location, accessability, noise, wheelchair access, if it feels homely, if it's clean, if other residents have the same background as you, if there is a manager on site, if the rooms are airy, if visitors are welcome etc.
For a full and comprehensive checklist see:
Choice of accommodation for local authority-funded care home resident
If you are a local authority-funded care home resident, the Age UK explains what rights you have when choosing which home you live in.
Government guidance on choice of care home accommodation allows you to choose which home you would like to live in. If you prefer a particular care home, the local authority must try to arrange accommodation in that home, subject to the following conditions:
- the home chosen is suitable to meet the your assessed needs.
- it doesn't cost more than the local authority would expect for this type of accommodation.
- the provider is willing to enter into a contract on the local authority's usual terms.
This can be locally or anywhere within the UK. Following your local authority needs assessment, you will also be means-tested to see if you have to make a financial contribution and also to confirm what contribution the local authority must make to ensure that your eligible needs are met. The local authority’s financial contribution is called a personal budget. This must be a realistic figure that genuinely reflects local care home costs, which it should be aware of, because it has a duty to meet eligible needs.
If you'd prefer to live in a care home that costs more than the local authority would usually expect to pay, it can arrange this, provided that someone else is willing to meet the difference in cost. This is usually known as a top-up or third-party payment.
Financial assessment of your affordability
When it comes to paying for a residential care for a loved one, you may be worried about fees. Most people will be expected to pay something towards the costs.
If your care is being organised by the local authority, then the main steps of the process are:
- Your local authority will firstly do a care needs assessment to identify what help you need.
- They will make recommendations about your needs and whether or not you need residential care – this is called a Care Plan.
- They will then work out a budget to ensure you get what you need – this is called a Personal Budget.
- Then, they will do a means test, also called a financial assessment, to work out how much you should pay towards your care home fees and how much they will cover.
- If your care is arranged by the NHS or social services, you may not have to pay for some or all of the care. For more information, see our page on NHS continuing healthcare.
What if you prefer a more expensive care home than the local authority will pay for?
If you would prefer to live in a care home that costs more than the local authority would usually expect to pay, it can arrange this, provided that someone else is willing to meet the difference in cost. This is usually known as a top-up or third-party payment. You could also choose a care home in another area to be closer to family or friends. Find out more about having choice of accommodation.
Asian parents and care homes
In 2011, Sarfraz Manzoor in Guardian wrote that among Asians, parents look after children who, in turn, look after parents: elderly relatives being cared for inside the family is something that Asians have taken great pride in, something that separated them from the supposedly heartless western custom of throwing their parents into a home. He remembered his father saying once that the British treated their pets better than their parents; to men and women of his generation, care homes were nothing less than a moral obscenity. “In this sense, care homes like Aashna House should not exist. The fact that it does is evidence that times are changing. Some British Asian children are, reluctantly and gradually, realising that they can no longer care for their parents at home,” he added.
It is a decision few take lightly and it is rarely reported – which made Fozia Khan's Channel 4 documentary, Asian Gracefully, which was shown on 4 March 2011, so revelatory and compelling. Khan lost both her parents during four months in 2009, and that colossal loss coupled with being pregnant at the time led her to reflect on how her generation of young British Asians was dealing with its ageing parents.
Khan befriended the residents of Aashna House, who were mostly British Gujaratis, few Pakistanis and for six months she followed their lives. Their routines, their reasons to make the care home their new home varied- and each story touched her heart.
It was perhaps inevitable that times would change and that the tradition of Asian children looking after their parents will change too. 5 years from Khan's documentary, now, many more care homes have Asian residents and some of these homes are designed to cater to particular communities- including food and culture. Some such care homes we can name are: Abbey Totalcare, Pranam Care Centre, Meera Nursing Home, Neemtree, Karuna Manor, Bhaktishyama Care Home, among others.
Ref: Ageuk.org.uk, Guardian.com
