Domiciliary care, often referred to as visiting care, is the provision of care or support for a person in their own home. The care can come in the form of a professional carer or district nurse (or someone with similar abilities).
Domiciliary care is different to live-in care in that a live-in carer will reside with the person receiving the care for a period of time (rotating with other members of the care team) whereas a domiciliary carer will have an agreed schedule of when they would visit the client along with an itinerary of tasks and jobs that they would work to.
The frequency of domiciliary care can vary from one visit per week to undertake some cleaning or companionship through to several visits per day. It also covers overnight assistance should a care recipient require help going to the toilet or other support. After all, care requirements do not stop for the person needing care just because it is time for bed. This is referred to as ‘overnight care’.
Some people will need intensive domiciliary care for short periods of time whereas others will need a more consistent yet lower level of care over a longer time period. These can be arranged either through your local authority or through an independent, private company like Kemble at Home. The advantage of using a private company is the knowledge that the same carer will be visiting the same people on a regular basis. Local authorities tend to allocate their carers on a more random, needs-must basis and so there is no guarantee that the same carer will be seen.
Domiciliary care is the right solution for people who need care but also have other specific requirements or desires.
As we get older, we will all need assistance for physical or mental tasks eventually but the onset of old age can vary in speed from one person to the next. It is in that transitionary stage of ability to non-ability that care (in some from) is used. Domiciliary care is considered for the person who needs care but also wants to retain their independence and remain living in their own home where they are comfortable and happy. Essentially, it prevents the need for a person to move into residential care or need a full-time carer.
If we consider the case of someone with early onset dementia, they may be perfectly capable of living their regular life but over time need assistance with smaller tasks. Their care requirement may grow over time but the best thing for their peace of mind is likely to be that they live in familiar surroundings for their own wellbeing and to keep their memory (and therefore their independence) as active as possible.
Examples of other degenerative diseases could be Parkinson’s, Huntingdon’s, Multiple Sclerosis, muscular dystrophy or arthritis.
A domiciliary care worker is anyone who undertakes the role of providing personalised care to an individual that enables them to live in their own home and lead as normal a life as they would expect. Duties range from providing personal care, administering medication, housework or even just keeping someone company.
A professional domiciliary carer is someone who is paid to undertake those tasks that are required for their client and could vary from day to day depending on their health and requirement. A paid carer could be expected to transport an individual to hospital or another appointment as well as household tasks or personal care; in essence they need to be prepared for the unexpected.
Whilst there is no specific requirement to have a higher education qualification to be a professional carer it is usual and beneficial for them to have a full, clean driving license, first aid certification and a level 2 or 3 NVQ qualification in health and social care or a similar subject. Anyone working with vulnerable people or those with learning difficulties must be checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for health as well as criminal records and allowance to work with certain groups of people. At Kemble at Home, we believe our carers are the cornerstone of who we are and we provide extensive face-to-face training, which means your familiar carer can support you, even when challenges like a disability, impairment or illness cause circumstances to change.
Domiciliary duties are varied in that every person’s requirement will be different. In this respect, a professional domiciliary carer needs to be able and proficient in any potential task that may be required. It is worth noting at this stage that a carer may be caring for more than one person at a given time hence the requirement for a range of skills.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of tasks that a domiciliary carer may be required to undertake (depending on abilities and qualifications):
· The preparation of meals
· Administering medication
· Running errands like shopping trips
· Spending time with the client, talking, conversing and interacting
· Cleaning, tidying, gardening, household maintenance
· Laundry
· Personal care assistance – washing, bathing, dressing the client, assisting with eating and drinking and more
· Liaising with relatives about health and personal matters
Alongside this, we attract carers who have an optimistic outlook, focus on solutions and have the energy to ‘make things happen’.
Caring for someone in their own home is a viable and often preferred option over residential care. It can be very disruptive for someone to have to move to unfamiliar surroundings and be around unfamiliar people, especially when dealing with a mental illness. Upsetting a person’s routine in this case is likely to be detrimental to someone’s overall wellbeing and happiness.
It is worth noting that a residential care home is different from a residential nursing home in that a nursing home provides a more intensive form of care than a residential care home. Residents in a nursing home will need a level of care that can not be administered in a normal residential setting.
From a financial perspective, employing a domiciliary carer for several hours per week is also more cost effective than paying for permanent residency in a care home.
Whilst care needs vary from person to person, domiciliary care allows our clients to live the life they want to lead. We pride ourselves on offering support in a way that truly puts the client first, so that you can decide exactly how you want to be supported, by whom, and with what. We keep it simple – we minimise paperwork, we work with small teams, and we make (almost) everything possible.
