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Office Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm · On-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Call us on 01788 422422Office Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm · On-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Call us on 01788 422422Loading page, please wait.
Care at home
Dementia care works best when it is boring, in the good sense — the same face, at the same time, doing things the same way. That is what we try to give you.
With most kinds of care, a different carer is an inconvenience. With dementia it can undo a fortnight of progress. Someone who knows that your mum takes her tea before her tablets, and that she gets anxious around four o'clock, is worth more than any amount of training. We build rotas around continuity, and when a regular carer is off we tell you rather than sending a stranger unannounced.
We do not correct or argue. If someone believes it is 1974 and they are waiting for their husband to come home from work, telling them otherwise causes distress and changes nothing. Carers are trained to go with it and gently move things along. It sounds small and it is the difference between a calm morning and a terrible one.
Dementia changes slowly enough that families living with it often cannot see it. A carer coming three times a week sees the difference — eating less, sleeping in the chair, the same story twice in one visit. We tell you what we notice, because it is usually the trigger for getting the GP or memory clinic to reassess.
In most of the homes we visit, the person doing the bulk of the care is a husband, wife or daughter who has been at it for years without a proper day off. Often the most valuable thing we do is make it possible for them to leave the house without worrying.
We would rather you knew this now than found out later.
We are one part of this. These are the people who do the things we cannot, and they are free.
Diagnosis, medication reviews, and referral onwards. Start here if there is no diagnosis yet.
Specialist dementia nurses who support families, including a free helpline.
Local support groups, practical guides and a support line.
Ring us and describe an ordinary day — what time they wake, what goes well, what goes badly. That tells us more than a list of diagnoses.
Worried about the cost? The council pays towards care at home for more people than realise it, and Attendance Allowance is not means-tested at all. See how paying for care works.