How to choose a care home
Introduction
Moving into a care home can bring up a range of emotions, especially if it follows an unforeseen illness or injury. It’s important to remember that a care home isn’t just a service, it will be your home, so choosing the right one is crucial. Here we outline some ideas you may wish to keep in mind when making your choice.
Making your choice
All care homes are inspected by the regulator and given a rating, so before you visit, you may wish to check out the inspection reports. It can also be helpful to look over past reports to see how they have been performing (but bear in mind older reports may not be accurate).
Northern Ireland: https://www.rqia.org.uk/inspections/
Think carefully about what you want and what is important to you before you visit. For some people, being supported to join activities and attend hospital appointments might be vital to their wellbeing, while for others it might be having specialist knowledge of their condition to get the right support and help. Putting a list together describing what is important can help you ask the right questions and choose the right home.
Questions to consider
Autonomy and choice
If you are looking for a care home, it is likely because a higher level of care is needed than can be provided in your own home. So, this element is extremely important, especially when thinking about the level of autonomy you will have:
Can you decide when to get up or go to bed, for example?
Can you choose what to wear?
Will they assist residents to use the toilet if they are able?
Even small things like whether residents can make themselves a drink, get a snack or eat meals in their room can be important.
Staffing
The quality of care provided can depend on staff capacity, so you may wish to ask questions such as:
What is the staff to resident ratio, particularly during the night?
Do the staff have care qualifications or training?
If you are looking for dementia care, are some or all staff trained in dementia needs?
Does the home use agency staff?
Are there managers or senior staff available at weekends?
Health support
There may be times when a medical issue arises. If you want to keep your own GP, make sure you are able to do this, or find out which GP practice the home uses. You may also want to consider:
What happens if a specialist is needed, for example a physiotherapist or neurologist?
How are such appointments/referrals facilitated?
Can staff help you with any recommended exercises?
How will staff support you to see other health professionals such as dentists or optometrists?
Involvement in care planning
You and your representatives being actively involved in your care planning is really important. You may wish to consider:
How will you or your representative be involved in your care planning and reviews, and how often will these happen?
Can you get a copy of your care plan?
Does your care plan set out who is important to you, which relatives or friends might be supporting you?
You might want to ask how they will be welcomed as partners in your care.
First Impressions
When you first enter the home, you will get a sense of whether the home and any gardens are well maintained. But it’s important to look beyond the decor. For example:
What access do residents have to the garden?
What is the temperature like in the home, for example?
Are there any unpleasant odours?
Is the furniture arranged in a homely manner?
As you look around the home, how do the residents and staff seem? What are they doing? How are they interacting?
Are there any activities going on?
Furniture, equipment and accessibility
Once you have a sense of the home itself, you may wish to think about the practical aspects of living there. For example:
How accessible is it? If a wheelchair is needed, can everywhere within the home be easily reached?
Are the toilets and bathrooms accessible?
You may also wish to think about the bedrooms themselves. What sort of size are they and what’s in them, e.g. TVs, phones?
Are there call bells (in each bedroom and communal areas)?
Can you bring any of your own furniture?
Location, Location, Location
Where a care home is located can be one of the most important considerations for some people. If family or friends will visit or be involved in supporting you, it’s worth thinking about how they will get there and, if driving, if there is ample parking.
But you might also want to think about whether a busy or quieter location is more important. For example, would you prefer being somewhere with lots of places nearby, such as shops, a cinema, coffee shops or places of worship or somewhere more picturesque, perhaps with larger grounds or pleasant views.
Visitors
Moving into a care home can mean a significant adjustment and how you are going to stay connected to friends and relatives is a key consideration. So, it’s worth considering whether there are any restrictions on when visitors, including any grandchildren for example, can come and how you meet (in a private space, for example).
Social Activities
Interacting with other residents and finding enjoyable ways to spend time can be an important part of care home life – social activities and the chance to develop new friendships are a key draw for some people.
Are there regular activities and outings, for example?
Are these available to everyone, including people living with dementia or with mobility needs, for example?
Is there an activities coordinator on site you can speak to?
Further information
Care homes should provide transparent information about the services they provide and their fees in an easily accessible way, so don’t forget to ask for this when you go to view them.
We hope that everything goes well with your care home move but please remember that we are here to help guide you, should you want to talk through the process, or if any difficulties arise. Contact our adviceline.
For more information about moving into a care home, check out our Get Support pages.