When is the right time to start looking for care and support?
When is the right time to start looking for care and support?
I know, it can be really tricky to gauge the right time to start exploring care options, either for your relatives, or for yourself.
The tendency is to struggle on for as long as possible until you just can't cope anymore. As I am sure you know, this really isn't the ideal approach and can leave older people more vulnerable to adverse events such as falls, medication errors, and poorer quality of life.
In my years of working as a registered nurse, I have noted 3 main ‘triggers’ that are a good indication of when it's sensible to start looking at the care options available in your area.
Let's have a look at each of these triggers in more detail, so you know what to look out for.
1) Increasing Frailty
When health care professionals talk about “frailty” they are referring to a long term condition that affects your health in the same way that other chronic health conditions might.
Frailty is not an inevitable part of aging and not all older adults live with frailty, but it is more common as we age. It is characterised by the loss of inbuilt body reserves. These reserves help us to recover from adverse events. As we start to lose these reserves, it can be harder to recover from relatively ‘minor’ health problems, such as an infection or a fall, sometimes having a severe long term impact on someone’s health and wellbeing.
Frailty can range from mild to severe. Older adults with frailty might notice:
Frailty is not an inevitable part of aging and not all older adults live with frailty, but it is more common as we age. It is characterised by the loss of inbuilt body reserves. These reserves help us to recover from adverse events. As we start to lose these reserves, it can be harder to recover from relatively ‘minor’ health problems, such as an infection or a fall, sometimes having a severe long term impact on someone’s health and wellbeing.
Frailty can range from mild to severe. Older adults with frailty might notice:
- Feeling Slower
- Weakness and muscle loss
- Feeling Tired
- Needing more help with daily tasks like getting dressed, gardening or cleaing
- Weight loss without trying
- Taking a long time to recover from illness
(source- NHS)
2) Diagnosis of life limiting or debilitating disease
Receiving a diagnosis of an incurable illness can be very distressing, both for the person themselves and for loved ones. There can be a resistance to planning for care, as we like to think that it will be a long way in the future- the truth is, even doctors find this hard to predict.
Carrying out the necessary research early on saves a lot of stress later down the line, and can give you much needed peace of mind at a difficult time.
Here are some examples of conditions which are incurable and are likely to shorten life expectancy:
Advanced cancer, dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), lung disease, neurological diseases (e.g. Parkinson's), advanced heart disease, and motor neurone disease.
It is so important to understand what you are likely to receive from the statutory services or local charities (free of charge) and the limitation of what they can realistically provide.
Having spent 12 years in the community palliative care- I can show you how supplement the support you will receive from the NHS and/or local authority with private care to ensure you and your loved ones have the best possible care, when you need it.
This helps you avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, provides better quality of life for all involved, and gives you more control over the care you receive.
3) Hospital Admissions
Hospital admissions (or rather, hospital discharges) are a common trigger for care being put in place. Hospital discharge can sometimes be delayed while a care package is set up to enable somebody to come home safely.
There is a requirement for the hospital and community services to work together to achieve a safe discharge for the patient.
If you are a self funding individual i.e. you have over £23,250 in savings and assets (in England), then it is likely that any supportive care required by you on discharge will only be provided for a maximum of 6 weeks- this is often referred to as ‘reablement care’. Commonly, it is provided for far less than six weeks.
If care and support is required after reablement services have ceased, it is usually down to the individual and their family to source the care they need, on a private basis.
Most families find this process to be stressful and frustrating, as they may not have experience in vetting care providers, or they may be unclear about what sort of care they need. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in families opting for the first care provider who has availability, and this may not always be the best option in terms of getting the best quality care.
The good news is, that it doesn't have to be this way.
How I Can Help
I set up Brookes Care Solutions in response to the countless families I saw who were struggling to get the help they needed.
I help self funding individuals source the best available care quickly, efficiently, and with you at the heart of the process.
I created the “Best Fit Care” package to help families find the best available care, all overseen by an experienced nurse. It is essentially a “done for you” service.
From assessment to implementation of care- I carry out your bespoke care search as if it was for a member of my own family.
“Best Fit Care” package includes the following:
- Detailed zoom or telephone nursing assessment with myself to assess specific needs and preferences and advise on next steps.
- Detailed research analysis of up to 4 suitable care services in your chosen area (these will be whittled down from a longer list of providers available in the area- to find the best quality available).
- Review of local hospice provision if appropriate.
- An independent and impartial review of CQC ratings and other quality reviews of all the services we suggest.
- I consult with the care services on your behalf to establish availability (how quickly can they assess and put the care in place), costs, relevant staff training, and any limitations.
- Curated research information is then packaged into a user-friendly format and provided to you electronically making it easy to share with other family members.
- A 30 minute follow-up call or Zoom session with you to go through my recommendations- this helps you to make a decision and also a chance to ask any further questions. Other family members can also join if this is helpful.
The cost for this service is £825.
If this package isn’t the right fit for you, I also offer bespoke services. You can call me to discuss your requirements on 0330 090 4511.
If you would like to do the research yourself, you can head to my website and download your FREE guide “Clear about Care”, which walks you through the first steps you need to take to find the right care.
Wishing you all the best,
If this package isn’t the right fit for you, I also offer bespoke services. You can call me to discuss your requirements on 0330 090 4511.
If you would like to do the research yourself, you can head to my website and download your FREE guide “Clear about Care”, which walks you through the first steps you need to take to find the right care.
Wishing you all the best,
Jodie.