Choosing the Right Domiciliary Care Provider: Key Considerations

What is Domiciliary Care Provider

A domiciliary care provider or home carer is a professional who helps and supports people to live as independently as possible in their homes. While they are sometimes called a personal assistant, they provide proactive support for complex medical needs. Their support is available whether a person benefits from having a carer for just a few hours a day or requires live-in care, and includes assisting with household duties, personal care and medication management to help maintain quality of life.

It is essential to take your time when researching and finding the right domiciliary care provider that will meet your needs. Domiciliary care providers are another set of hands that can help with day-to-day tasks, personal care or enjoying fun activities that help individuals maintain their true sense of self.

Delivering care at home puts people in control of the support they receive. Domiciliary care allows people to remain in familiar surroundings with people they love while living on their terms and being safe, knowing that their chosen provider will provide tailored care and support.

Assessing Your Loved One’s Needs

If your loved one needs care at home, there are a few steps to take before choosing a care provider. One of the critical steps is to require an assessment for your care and support.

Local authorities often conduct the assessment, and they will let you know the type of help they can provide and get into the details of the care you will receive. Another option can be to arrange care for yourself, which can also be financially covered by the local authorities. Domiciliary carers take time to understand people’s unique needs and individual requirements and always include the person requiring support when developing a care plan.

The assessment involves asking relevant questions about medical needs or risk assessments and focusing on the quality of life outcomes and how they can make a difference to the person receiving care.

Key Considerations to Choose Dom Care Provider

Receiving appropriate live-in care is essential for improving and maintaining quality of life and independence. One of the most important considerations is that there needs to be a connection between the carer and the person receiving care. It is ideal if they share some common interests and explore them together. Additionally, it is essential to ensure live-in care providers have the required experience and training that matches people’s specific conditions or challenges. When choosing the right domiciliary care provider, a few things must be considered.

Licensing and Accreditation

Domiciliary care service providers must have the necessary credentials and training certifications for their carers and conduct thorough background checks during hiring. Some of the questions that you need to ask before choosing your provider and carer include:

Are the carers trained across different levels of their career, and how is their proficiency assessed
The process of how providers vet and check the credentials of their carers
What are their required certifications, licenses and accreditations

Experience and Reputation

Reputation and experience are essential to choosing a healthcare provider. People want to trust they are in the best hands, and having a solid reputation and good experience helps to build trust and bonds faster. Experience affects the carer’s ability to collaborate with other professionals, medical facilities and families, which can also positively impact their ability to provide the best possible care.

Range of Services Offered

Domiciliary carers can provide help and support around the house through a person-centred approach that focuses on helping people live independently in their own homes. For example, our carers at Unique Community Services focus on people’s unique needs and abilities and maintaining quality of life through delivering:

Personal care – helping with daily tasks like bathing, toileting and dressing
Household tasks – assisting with simple housekeeping tasks like laundry and cleaning
Medical support – providing medications, catheter care, PEG feeding and much more
Going outside – making arrangements to go to the park, visit family and friends, organising celebrations on bank holidays and even trips
Mobility Support – helping people get out of bed, move around the house and do light exercises
Companionship – spending time with the individual, and being compassionate and kind, ensures excellent companionship

Qualified and Trained Caregivers

Qualified and trained caregivers are the core focus of domiciliary care providers. People often look for compassionate, caring and devoted caregivers, but having the required qualifications is just as important. Some of the examples of caregiving certifications that are optional or required depending on the company include:

Diplomas in health and social care
CPR
Basic life support
First aid

Personalised Care Plans

The most critical aspect of delivering bespoke care and support is person-centred planning, personalised care plans and building a strong bond between the carer and the individual they serve. Creating a personalised care plan takes time and involves understanding how the person feels and what they want to achieve in life.

Some of the key points when creating these personalised care plans include:

Learning all relevant information about the individual’s physical and mental health and family medical history
Acquiring information about important life events
Acquiring needed information about continuity of care in case of emergence
Learning about the essential daily rituals for the person and their hobbies, interests and what makes them happy
Including them in the decision-making process
Understanding all the risks as well as benefits of every action taken
Clearly understanding the responsibilities and duties designed to meet people’s unique needs
Understanding the person’s expectations and goals
Allowing people to make their own decisions

Safety and Security Measures

Domiciliary care allows people to receive care in their own home. This means the safety of the individual’s home environment is important. It is essential to observe any potential hazards and risks of the living conditions and take all needed safety measures and adaptations to minimise the risks and ensure a safe living environment.

Person-centred Care

Person-centred care focuses on people’s unique needs, strengths and capabilities, and its mission is to align with people’s goals and deliver quality care. This humane approach includes collaboration, inclusion and coordination with one goal in mind – to provide proper care at the right place and time, focusing on improved quality of life and positive outcomes.

Person-centred care is focused on the emotional and physical well-being of the people receiving care and support, and its primary goal is to improve health outcomes. The increasing awareness about human rights in the healthcare sector led to the development of person-centred care by placing people at the heart of care and creating inclusive healthcare options for everyone.

Utilising a personalised care approach built on values and practices that put people at the centre of every decision is what our compassionate team at Unique Community Services does.

Flexibility and Availability

Domiciliary care providers need to be flexible and adaptable to any situation. For any change in health, carers must be flexible to accommodate and cater to these changes. They should offer various care services and ideas in the best interest of the person they serve. There isn’t any one-size-fits-all type of service when it comes to delivering care, so carers must be able to cater to the changing needs.

Cost and Payment Options

Different funding options exist for getting a domiciliary care provider, and your local council may offer some financial support. Also, looking through national insurance options can be beneficial.

How Nurseline Community Services Covers All Considerations

At Nurseline Community Services, we focus on reshaping the approach to delivering care and making an impact. Our clinicians tick all the boxes when it comes to delivering home care services, and they provide humanised and empathetic care and support for people with complex care needs.

By delivering proactive home services, we can help people requiring home care stay closer to their loved ones and lead independent lives. We outline person-centred plans that emphasise people’s dignity and privacy while working closely with families and other specialists.

Nurseline Community Services delivers CQC-regulated care across the UK with offices in Bristol, Gloucester and Birmingham.