Working In A Care Home? Here Is A Better Alternative

Read about the benefits of live-in care, a great alternative to working in a care home that benefits you and your clients in many ways.

In the world wehave a growing elderly population that is set to be at 2 billion by 2050. The population of the world is ageing, and it is no different in the UK. This means that there is a shortage of care. Technology, great health awareness and habits also means the elderly can live independently for longer now, which means they might not need care. However, many do still require care at some point and there is a lack of it in the UK.

Whereas in the past, generations of mums staying at home caring for children would also care for elderly relatives, now, equality means both parents can chase the career they deserve. What this means for elderly relatives is nobody of age in the family available to provide care. Residential care is also known to be either unavailable to many, or in lots of cases, as showed by a Live-in Care Hubstudy, lots of people would prefer to avoid it, instead opting to have live-in care in their own home.

There is also an issue with a lack of people wanting to work in care. Working in a care home can be very rewarding but, as newspaper reports have shown, it is not always easy. Those working in care homes can find themselves with just ten minutes per client to provide personal care, without any time for conversation.

feel your care home job

If you have a desire to make a difference to your community and you don’t feel your care home job is gifting you the ‘make a difference’ feelings you have always wanted, perhaps it is time to consider live-in care.

Reasons To Become A Live-in Carer

Compared to working in a care home, being a live-in carer is much more free and makes your career much more available to making a difference in the lives of your clients. You are able to apply your skills, training and compassion in the way you have always wanted to, truly enhancing your clients life. Just some of the benefits of becoming a live-in carer can be:

  • Managing your schedule in a way that benefits the client
  • Improving the nutrition of your client
  • Improving the physical and mental health of your client
  • Helping your client combat loneliness
  • Helping your client to stay in touch with family and friends, and to make new friends
  • Being able to learn new skills and work in specialist situations
  • Meeting lots of new people
  • Sometimes being able to travel to new exciting places
  • Knowing you are making a difference to your community

You can make such a difference to your clients life because they are receiving one to one care from you. Your client will have a higher quality of life and better independence because of you. Additionally, you benefit from improved skillset, saving on your bills at home during weeks at work, good pay and an amazing sense of job satisfaction. You are also making a difference to your community in lots of ways, including helping the NHS with the bed blocking crisis, and helping older people live independently in their own homes.

The Next Step

If you do want to become a live-in carer and you already work in a care home, it will be easy for you to move into live-in care. You already have some training and some skills, and the right care attributes. Alternatively if you haven’t worked in care yet, you usually don’t need any qualifications to begin training with a care agency. Either way, a good step is to get in touch with some care agencies and to read some more about home care jobs here. Live-in care is an amazing vocation and if you are unhappy in a care home job, it is important to know there is a much better alternative out there for you.