Planning care is like applying to university
AKE TIME NOW to plan for later life, say experts. Regina Heneghan,manager of Sunrise Senior Living in Edgwarebury Lane, Elstree, knows this from experience. Her mother, a wheelchair user, was cared for by her father but they would not go into residential care. Then her father died after an operation. “The family was in crisis. We placed my mother in a home recommended by her GP but it had changed hands and had a poor reputation. So we had to move her quickly. If you take action in haste when you’re in crisis, it can lead to mistakes and more crisis. Do the research when you have the time and are fit and able. Plan as you plan for every other stage of life: school, university, career...”
People can “test” homes by going for a respite care stay. “It should feel like a home from home,” she says. “Any y care facility y should let anyone walk through the door at any time. Staff should be friendly and smiling and, of course, so should the residents.”
Neil Taylor, director of community services for Jewish Care, says: “It’s always much easier to make such important decisions in a considered manner. There’s a wide variety of homes on offer. You need to understand what you are going to get for your money as every home offers different terms. You should also know whether or not you qualify for any state funding.”
Power of attorney is not only for financial matters, he adds. “One can also be granted power of attorney over a relative’s health and welfare. This is predicated on a person losing their capacity to make decisions, for example, if they develop dementia.”
Going into a residential home can be a positive life choice. “It can remove stress — for example, where one person in a couple is a carer, they can become a spouse again,” says Mr Taylor. “It is an antidote to loneliness and isolation, to having to look after yourself, to look after your house and pay the bills.” Jewish Care has 12 homes, each with provision for people with dementia. The cost, paying privately, ranges from £830 to £1,500 a week.
Leon Smith, Nightingale Hammerson’s executive vice president, says people are leading active lives for longer, so they are putting thoughts of living in a care home to one side. This means greater numbers entering homes in crisis circumstances.
Moreover, he warns that local