Advice for families
What type of care home is right for my loved one?
Finding the right care starts with understanding the level and type of support your loved one needs.
Different care homes provide different types of support, and the terminology can be confusing.
This guide explains some of the main differences and what to consider when looking for the right home.
If you’re considering an Exemplar Health Care home, it’s likely that your loved one has complex care needs.
Below, we explain what that can mean, when complex care might be appropriate, and what to look for when choosing a home.
Who might need complex care?
A person might have a combination of physical health, mental health, neurological, mobility, communication, respiratory, or behavioural needs. These needs can affect one another and the type or level of support they need.
But a diagnosis alone doesn’t tell you whether someone needs complex care.
What matters is how their needs affect their everyday life, how much support they need, and whether the people caring for them have the right skills, time, and resources to meet those needs.
Two people with the same diagnosis can need very different types and levels of care.
When might complex care be the right choice?
You may start looking at complex care when your loved one needs more support than their current care arrangement can provide.
This could be because their needs have changed, they need more nursing or one-to-one support, or they have different needs that need to be supported together.
Complex care can also be a next step for someone who is ready to leave hospital but still needs a high level of nursing and care, or when their current care home is no longer able to meet their needs safely.
Every person’s situation is different, which is why a full assessment is carried out before deciding whether a home is the right fit.
What should I look for in a complex care home?
The right home should be able to support your loved one as an individual, rather than simply being able to care for their diagnosis.
Ask about the nursing care available, staffing levels, and how colleagues are trained to understand and meet your loved one’s needs.
It’s also important to understand how the home works with healthcare and therapy professionals, how the team responds when someone’s needs change, and how they’ll support your loved one to be as independent as possible.
And don’t be afraid to ask what everyday life in the home is really like.
Looking for care for a family member?
Our Referrals Team is here to listen, answer your questions, and help you understand the next steps.
