Choosing a Home Care Provider Is Stressful: Information Is Key

Acquiring Care Is a Distress Purchase

Choosing care for a loved one is undoubtedly one of the most important decisions that you have to make. Whether you are looking for home (domiciliary) care or residential care there are just so many things to consider. And let’s be honest, it’s something you’d rather not have to do. For good reasons, acquiring care is often referred to as a distress purchase. Little wonder, then, that choosing a care provider is a stressful event.

Choosing a Home Care Provider Is a Stressful Event

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) recently conducted a survey that found that 84% of the survey’s respondents said that choosing care (whether home care or residential care) for an older relative was stressful. By contrast, only 67% of those respondents said that they found buying a house stressful. The CQC, incidentally, is the independent body that regulates health and social care in England. The survey was conducted during the period 7 July to 19 August 2014 and was prepared by Mumsnet for the CQC. All 259 of the respondents were users of Mumsnet or Gransnet. You can read the full report here.

To put a little flesh on the bones of the survey, let’s look at what respondents were asked in a little more detail. The survey asked respondents: “How stressful, if at all, did you find each of the following life events?” The life events in question (with the percentage finding them very stressful or quite stressful in brackets) were:

Choosing care for a parent/ spouse/ older relative (84%)

Getting divorced/ splitting up with long term partner (32%)

Choosing a school for a child (50%)

Choosing the right care and support when having a baby (37%)

Getting married (30%)

Buying a house/ property (67%).

The CQC explain that “The survey was aimed at people with dual care responsibilities, dubbed the ‘sandwich generation’; so called because they find themselves caring for their ageing parents while supporting their own children.” Justine Roberts, who is the Chief Executive of Mumsnet, comments that “Our users have told us that balancing the needs of elderly parents or grandparents while looking after young children is one of the most stressful times of their lives.”

I’m not particularly surprised at that finding. As the managing director of a home care provider I’d like to be able to say that choosing domiciliary care for your relative should not be stressful. However, that would be, at worst false, and at best utopian. Even if you are not juggling dual care responsibilities, finding care for your loved one is stressful. Choosing a home care provider is a decision of monumental importance. 

I think it would be equally utopian to suggest that the stress of choosing care can be eliminated. However, if you are provided with what you require to make an informed decision about choosing care for your relatives, whilst the stress may not be eliminated, making a decision may be made that much easier. What is it, then, that you require to help you decide on the provider which will care for your loved ones? According to the CQC survey, it is, quite simply, information. 

The survey is quite useful, here, in giving us a little more detail. One question asked: “How helpful or unhelpful would you find the following in choosing care support for your parent, spouse or older relative?” The percentage of respondents finding the following very helpful or quite helpful appears in brackets:

Independent, impartial information (95%)

Reports into individual services to compare homes/homecare services (93%)

Expert, jargon free information (94%)

A ‘one stop’ resource online with advice about choosing care and information about individual services (95%)

Clear rating of different services (89%)

Views of friends, family, relatives or people (88%)

Again, none of this comes as much of a surprise to me. Very often it is not the case that you can’t find information (although there may be exceptions). Often there is too much information. Sometimes the available information may not be that easy to find. Sometimes there are questions that you might want to ask about the reliability of the information. And sometimes, the information may not be that easily digestible – the bit about a need for expert, jargon free information has particular resonance for me.

The Obligation on Home Care Providers

Home care providers also have an important part to play. I’m talking now specifically about home care providers as that’s where my expertise lies. As home care providers, we  have a duty to supply you with clear, jargon free expert information about our services. 

If you are looking for home care for a relative, you’ll probably want to get information from two or three providers. But what are you looking for?  There is a very useful document produced by the UKHCA called Choosing Care at Home that has a list of questions that you might want to put to home care companies. A copy of the document can be downloaded from this page. 

You might want to reserve most of those questions for when someone from the company comes to visit you – a good provider will visit you to carry out a care assessment and should be happy to visit you prior to any assessment discuss things without any obligation. These visits should be free. How, then do you find a home care provider?

Finding a Home Care Provider

The first thing to do is to find those companies that provide home care in your area. There will probably be quite a few. You may already know of some. If you don’t a good place to start is on the websites of homecare.co.uk, United Kingdom Home Care Association (UKHCA) and the CQC.  On these sites you can search for those companies in your area that provide care at home. The sites allow you either to email the companies directly or provide a link that takes you to a company’s website.  It goes without saying that in England, a home care provider must be registered with the CQC.

Judge the response you get from the home care companies as you would judge the response of any commercial organisation. For example, if you email for information, how long does it take for them to reply to you? If you’ve asked for information to be posted, how long does it take to arrive? If you telephone, how easy is it to get through to someone? If you ask for a call back, do you get one.

The obligation of a home care provider is to give you all the information that you need to make a decision. However good this information may be it can never eliminate the stress. It can, though, make your task just a little easier. 

Caremark Thanet is a home care provider delivering care to people living in Thanet. We are happy to advise you on all aspects of domiciliary care. Contact us on 01843 235910, or email us at thanet@caremark.co.uk. Visit our website: www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.