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When considering your own care, or the care of a loved one, it’s important to understand what’s available and choose the best type for you.

To help people to make this decision, we spoke to Alison, Home Manager of RMBI Care Co.’s Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court in Mid Glamorgan. As someone who has worked in the care industry for many years, she’s well-placed to give us the best advice and explore the most important factors in choosing your care.

Here are Alison’s top tips to consider when choosing care:

When looking into the different care options, there are two main types residential and domiciliary. What is the difference?

Residential care involves you moving to a different setting, usually a residential home or a retirement village. These homes have nurses and care workers to provide full-time support, whether it’s for your medical needs or general wellbeing. Domiciliary care refers to care provided in your own home by trained carers, or home adaptations like access ramps and handrails to help keep you in your own home.

Have you taken a care needs assessment?

A care needs assessment is carried out by a care home or your local authority to establish the type of support you need. It determines how much your local authority can provide and can establish whether a residential home is equipped to support your needs.

The assessment will consider things such as any medication you have to take, your level of mobility and what everyday tasks you can do for yourself. Some people worry that having a care needs assessment will lead to reduced independence – this is not the aim of the assessment. Instead, it is there to ensure you’re receiving support in the areas in which you most need, enabling you to remain as independent as possible.

Based on your care needs assessment, is home-based support the best option for you?

If you have a good level of mobility, day centres could be an appropriate choice of care, which allows you to continue living in your own home. Day centres are a brilliant way of socialising, and many provide useful services like hairdressing and chiropody. Alternatively, it could be useful for professional carers to visit you at home to help with everyday tasks like cleaning and shopping. If you need more regular support, having a live-in carer is also a possibility.

Have you decided that residential care is best for you?

Care homes fall into three main categories: residential, nursing, and dementia nursing, and the type of home you choose should be based on your needs and resources. Unlike residential homes, a nursing home is required to have a registered general nurse on site at all times. In dementia nursing homes, a registered mental health nurse is on duty 24/7. Many homes also have high-dependency areas within their residential area which may be able to accommodate people with more complex health needs, without requiring a qualified nurse.

RMBI Care Co. supports over 1,000 residents in its 18 care homes across England and Wales, many of which are rated either ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by regulators, the Care Quality Commission and Care Inspectorate Wales.

Anyone interested in moving into an RMBI home should get in touch with the home manager to see whether they can accommodate your needs.

Tom is just one of the hundreds of residents enjoying later life in an RMBI Care Co. home.

How will your care be paid for?

When moving into a care home, the home will carry out a full care and financial assessment which will determine how much your care will cost. Depending on your assets, your local authority will decide whether they can support the full or partial cost of your care. If they can contribute to the cost of your care, you will need to submit an application to your local authority for support.

If a resident living in an RMBI Care Co. home reaches a stage where they are no longer able to pay for their care, RMBI Care Co. will continue to support the person’s fees alongside the local authority, as long as their care needs are met.

Don’t forget about the benefits of moving into a care home!

Moving into a care home can have many advantages for both you and your loved ones. It provides peace of mind that you are safe and gives you the support needed to be comfortable and happy in your new home. With the help of staff like the RMBI Care Co’s activities coordinators, care homes can also provide excellent opportunities to socialise and try new things. It might even give you a new lease of life!