Home care services are based on providing assistance with daily activities such as cooking, dressing, cleaning, and monitoring medication regimen. There are different home care options available, but the most common include domiciliary care and caring for your loved one yourself. This guide examines the forms of care support available as well as the cost of each option.
Domiciliary Care
In domiciliary care, your loved one is visited in their home by a professional. If you opt for this care, you will need to pay for the costs of home modification. Even so, domiciliary or “care at home” compared to nursing homes. Professional care is generally charged based on the number of hours the professional spends looking after your loved one. During the day, the cost can range from £10 to £30 per hour depending on the location of the care recipient. This price increases in the case of overnight care, and the charge is based on a night and not on the hour – usually £100 a night or more.
You may also find that you are paying a little more during weekends and holidays. That said, your peace of mind and the continued independence of your loved one may make domiciliary care a worthwhile investment. Moreover, this option is relatively affordable when compared to nursing home care. Although the cost of nursing homes vary, you can expect to pay approximately £50,000 a year or more for a single room. On the other hand, if you are paying a professional £20 per hour for domiciliary care and the professionals are needed two hours a day from Monday to Friday, the total yearly cost will be £11,200.
Caring for a loved one yourself
So, how does this option work? When you decide to look after someone yourself, you are taking responsibility for their care duties. You can approach this in two different ways; you can invite them to come and live with you or you can choose to visit them in their homes. When you decide on the latter, you’ll be flexible enough to offer as much care as it s convenient for you. Meanwhile, your loved one will be in a position to maintain their current support structure. Ideally, neither you nor your loved one will have to alter the way you do things. It’s no wonder that many care recipients in the UK prefer this option, although it’s not always offered because distance can prove to be a challenge for parties concerned.
With this option, you may also need to budget for different specialist equipment such as stairlifts (£900 and up), handrails (£50-150 each), and shower facilities of approximately £200 and above, depending on the type of equipment you are using and labour. Additionally, you may be required to increase accessibility to the property by installing ramps which could cost around £40 or more.
Apart from that, there are other little expenses such as petrol, bills, shopping, and more which could easily add up. Given the fact that the costs of these items depend significantly on the level of care involved, it can be difficult to estimate the exact amount it would cost you to look after your loved ones yourself.
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