Finding a Dementia Specialist Care Home: A Comprehensive Guide
Searching for a dementia specialist care home for your loved one is an overwhelming and emotionally charged time. There is so much to consider that it can feel like you are finding a needle in a haystack, except you aren’t even sure what needle you are looking for.
Because dementia symptoms vary so much, and as they progress, your loved ones’ needs change, it can be hard to feel confident in the dementia care you have chosen.
At LuxuryCare, we have dementia specialist nursing homes across Poole and Bournemouth. Each home offers dedicated dementia care alongside generic residential or nursing care in a unique setting. Not every home is suitable for everyone, we understand that. But we also understand how you can weave out which dementia specialist care home is suitable for your loved one.
In this blog, we have created a comprehensive guide on how to find the right dementia care home for your loved one.
Understanding Different Types of Care Homes
Before you start looking at dementia care homes, it is important to understand the different types of homes.
- Nursing homes – these provide specialist medical care and have a trained nurse in the home 24 hours a day.
- Residential care homes – these offer more generic care, focusing more on personal hygiene and day-to-day assistance rather than medical care. Staff can do basic medication management but can’t administer medication or diagnose residents.
- Specialist dementia care homes – as the name suggests, these homes provide specialist dementia care for your loved one, no matter what stage of their progression.
Why do you need to understand the difference between these? Because it helps you understand the care your loved one needs so that you can ensure they receive the right type and level of care from the staff at the care home. It is likely that with a dementia diagnosis, you will be looking for a specialist home, so it is important to know these exist.
The aim of a care home will always be to help your loved one live as independently as possible, but if they are receiving the wrong type of care, this can be hard, especially if they are living with dementia.
How to Choose the Right Dementia Specialist Care Home
Once you understand the type of care your loved one needs and, therefore, the type of care home you need to look for, you can start thinking about the following and how they will impact your loved one’s quality of life in the care home. Approaching the search in this way puts your loved one in the centre of the search, helping you find a home that will help them remain independent and happy even with a dementia diagnosis.
Staff Qualifications
You want to know that your loved one is receiving the best possible dementia care. So, it is a good idea to look at the qualifications gained by staff at the home.
Do they undergo consistent training to stay up-to-date with new care methods and approaches and to refresh their knowledge and understanding of certain conditions?
Do they participate in specific dementia care training? Or hold dementia specialist qualifications?
There are a lot of aspects to dementia care because of the wide range of symptoms shown by individuals, so it is important that you are confident in the staff’s ability to handle different symptoms and the progression of the disease.
Facilities
Next on the list of things to think about is the facilities offered by the care home.
This covers a large scope of things, from the shape and sizes of the bedrooms and the furniture supplied to communal spaces your loved one can use, such as lounges, dining rooms and gardens, to religious services or unique services, such as being pet-friendly or having a women’s only floor.
You want to know that the facilities available at a dementia specialist care home help your loved one create a lifestyle they will enjoy. Maybe slightly more importantly, you want to know that the facilities will enable an independent lifestyle, from being able to wander the home and understand where they are to being able to participate in activities freely or choose where they eat their meals.
Specialist dementia facilities, such as our care homes, will have been designed with the typical dementia symptoms in mind. For example, our homes have an easy-to-navigate layout that makes use of bright colours, visual cues, clear signage and sensory reminders to help your loved ones recognise the different parts of the care home and be able to work their way around our home.
Community Feel
Isolation and loneliness are common in the elderly, so looking for a care home that has a sense of community can be a key point to look for.
For those with dementia, a sense of community gives them a sense of belonging, which is one way to combat loneliness.
Plus, social interactions are vital for maintaining cognitive function.
Finally, where a sense of community is one of the pillars of the home, staff often build up stronger relationships with the residents, leading to more personalised care and better understanding of likes and dislikes, enhancing the quality of care being provided.
Care Approach
When looking for a dementia specialist care home, you’re going to focus on the level of care provided. But this can still feel like a minefield as there are so many approaches to dementia and care.
One of the most important aspects to look out for is that it is person-centric. This means your loved one will be placed at the centre of the care plans. While this might seem obvious, it is nuanced because it focuses on them as a human rather than their condition, meaning it puts their personal preferences first and works around those to provide medical and dementia care.
Leading from this, it is important that the care plans put in place are bespoke and flexible. They should stem from a care needs assessment that is completed throughout the admission process, where a member of staff visits your loved one to get to know their current needs, life story and personal preferences. All of this information is combined to produce a detailed care plan that reflects your loved ones’ unique needs.
As you will know, dementia is a progressive disease that means your loved one’s care needs will change. Care homes need a way to track the changes and implement care amendments. At LuxuryCare, we use Dr Gemma Jones’ Behavioural Staging Model, which is a shorthand way of describing a person’s current needs and abilities within the larger context of their disease progression. This model values a person-centric method of creating and monitoring care plans, making it a seamless fit with our values.
Location
Of course, the location of the care home is likely to play a pivotal role in your decision.
You could be looking for a care home that is close to you to allow regular visits, or maybe you are looking for a location that will be familiar to them. If they have lived their lives by the sea, you might value a location that is near a beach or seafront as this could offer comfort to your loved one.
The location is easy to work out thanks to Google Maps, and when you visit the care home, you will be able to get a sense of the surrounding area too, which can also impact your decision.
Visitation rules
All of the above are things to consider for your loved one. But there is a final aspect that you should consider for yourself, and that is visiting rules.
Visiting relatives in a care home is an important part of them settling in and staying content in their new home because it emphasises they have not been abandoned or forgotten about.
On the flip side, visiting your loved one is important for you because it gives you peace of mind that they are happy and receiving the right level and type of care.
Therefore, you want to know that the visiting hours or schedule fits with your lives and daily routines. The best solution would be an open-door policy, such as that at our care homes, where you can visit at any time of the day, join in any of the activities and even stay for dinner (you just need to let us know of this so we can cook enough for you).
Why Choose LuxuryCare in Bournemouth, Poole, and Dorset?
There are many things to consider when choosing a dementia specialist care home for your loved one.
At LuxuryCare, we understand the emotional rollercoaster this process takes you on and are here to support you through it.
We have a network of dementia specialist care homes across Poole and Bournemouth, each offering personalised care through flexible and regularly reviewed care plans.
Our staff are passionate about providing quality care for all of our residents and are always eager to get to know your loved one like their own Nan so they can build up a relationship and provide care in a way that your loved one is comfortable with.
On top of this, as a care provider, we provide regular dementia-focused training to every member of staff so they have up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the disease and care.
As we mentioned above, our care homes are designed with dementia symptoms in mind, meaning we utilise visual cues and signage that allow your loved one to independently navigate their way around the house with confidence.
We are proud to be able to offer second-to-none facilities such as our gardens and a range of activities that every resident can participate in. Residents and their families are encouraged to make the most of our facilities when they visit. Visiting hours are open, so whether you join us for dinner in our dining room, take a tea outside to enjoy the garden or participate in one of our activities, you are always welcome.
Our hope is that through these, the residents build a sense of community, something you will experience on a visit to any of our care homes.
Our care plans are bespoke to your loved one and produced after an in-depth care needs assessment, which involves your loved one, current carers and medical professionals and their friends and family (including you). This allows us to get a full and true picture of their life, their needs and their preferences so that we can deliver the very best care possible.
As you know, their needs will change, so we hold frequent reviews to ensure the care plans are reflective of any changes in care needs. You will always be a part of this discussion, as will your loved one, as it is important to us that they have a say in their care.
Additionally, we have an on-site GP who will monitor the progression of the disease and their overall health so you can be confident that your loved one is receiving the medical care they need when they need it.
We are lucky to be located on the south coast of England, with beautiful sandy beaches, Poole Harbour and a rich history. We make the most of these places with day trips out.
Book A Visit To Our Care Homes
If you like the sound of our care homes and think they tick the boxes outlined, we encourage you to book a visit to experience it for yourself.
Call us on 01202 037373 or complete our online contact form today.
