‘How much will home care cost?’ is the most common question we get asked and, we hate being vague, but it depends.
It depends on your personal circumstances and how much care is needed.
What we can do though is take you through the different types of home care (also known as domiciliary care and home help) to help you get a better understanding of cost and the care that is available.
Only you will know what is right for you and your loved ones, but we hope by answering the following questions, you can gather the information you need to help you to decide.
What is home care?
Home help, home care and domiciliary care are terms used to describe the support delivered by a care worker in your own home. Most of our clients and their loves ones approached us when they knew the time was right, maybe after a home helper was recommended by a health professional for example.
Home care is recommended when tasks around the home, or personal care tasks, are becoming overwhelming or difficult to perform by an individual or by their loved ones/carer(s). All of our clients want to live independently, safely and comfortably at home, and having home support is a great way to achieve this.
How does home care or home help work?
The amount of home care needed varies from person to person. Some individuals may need an hour per week, others may need assistance several times per day.
Sometimes care can be arranged for a set period of time too. This is ideal for lending a hand until you get back on your feet after surgery or a hospital stay for instance, or if a loved one looks after your home care needs but is unable to offer support for a while.
Some care services, particularly those that look after domestic tasks, will provide you with the same carer for each visit, so that you and your loved ones can get to know them well, and your carer gets to know you and your preferences. If it is important to you and your loved ones that you can quickly build trust and confidence in the support you receive, having the same carer might be a top priority. If so, it's well worth asking providers early on if they can provide this for your added peace of mind.
What is the cost of home care?
The average cost of home care from an agency providing personal care can be anywhere from £25 per hour but this will depend on the provider, where you live, and the type of support you receive.
For home help support involving domestic tasks only, this often cheaper pre hour. For example, our home help team, Happy to Help Gateshead, is based in Gateshead and provides help with domestic tasks at home, shopping, prescription collection and bill paying which costs £19.80 per hour. Our one to one assisted outings services cost £20.80 per hour.
We’re able to provide high quality care at a lower hourly rate than other agencies due to being a charity which reinvests all of our income back into our services. We have no shareholders or paid directors either, and we prefer to pass these savings onto our clients.
It’s always best to check with your local authority to see if you are eligible for support to pay for, or contribute towards, your care costs. If you live in Gateshead, you can contact Gateshead Council's Adult Social Care Direct here.
What tasks will home care cover?
The home care you receive should be built around your needs and should make you feel supported, and empowered to make your own choices (this also applies if you make decisions on behalf of a loved one who needs support). As a result, there are many tasks involved in home care:-
Help with domestic tasks*:
Cleaning
Organising
Laundry
Checking that food is in date
Making sure that there are no trip hazards
Shopping and prescription collection
Bill paying
Social Care Examples*:
Having a regular visitor at home to talk to
Assistance to attend appointments
Support to go shopping, to a café, to a garden centre or run errands for example
Help to go to leisure activities or social activities such as lunch clubs, to visit loved ones or to enjoy a hobby
Personal Care:
Getting out of bed in the morning
Getting into bed at night
Taking medications safely and on time
Preparing meals and drinks
Assistance with washing and bathing
Using the toilet
Pension collection
*indicates the support we can provide at Happy to Help Gateshead
Are travel expenses included?
Most home care and personal care does not charge extra for travel expenses. If using social care services to help you to go out and about with a worker, it is likely that there will be some expenses incurred for travelling to and from your home to where you want to go. Any necessary parking charges may also be taken into consideration. The service providing support should explain this to you before an outing is arranged so that you and your loves ones are aware and happy with any additional expenses.
In conclusion
Deciding on the type of home care you want and need raises many questions, in many different areas. Thanks to the many options available in Gateshead, with a range of hourly charges, people with care needs have the choice, control and flexibility to seek out the best fit personally and financially.
We currently provide home care for hundreds of older people and people with disabilities across the Gateshead borough. If you have any questions about how Home Help works, or about what option might be best for you and your loved ones, have a chat with our Happy to Help Gateshead expert coordinator, Liz, on 0191 4785919. Prefer to email? Contact Liz at liz@teamwork-dt.co.uk.
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