It’s sadly often the case that sometimes the care you or a loved one needs might be required swiftly. An already stressful time will no doubt then be more so under a time sensitive situation. Whether you are in the beginnings of finding care for yourself or loved one, we have created a small checklist below of steps you’ll be likely to encounter to help you stay on track and reduce the strain slightly.
We have deliberately broken it down into solely the core steps for those of you that only have a matter of days to find the right care. These steps are designed for a single week, with a few additional and ideal steps (though nonessential) added at the end were you to have a framework of a few weeks to one month timescale.
Step 1:
Contact either your GP or social services to discuss fully, as they may well be able to specify an exact idea of what you (or your loved one) will need in the coming days, weeks and months ahead, the more information you have to work with, the better.
Step 2:
Once you have this understanding you’ll then be able to find out if you (or your loved one) are entitled any support or benefits that will help alleviate some of the cost, your local authority will be able to tell you this.
Step 3:
Based on what support you may or may not be entitled to, you’ll know and be able to define yourself as either a self funder or (if you’re able to receive help) authority funded, with regards to the care costs.
Step 4:
Take a look at Care Sourcer’s free searchable directory of local care agencies for care providers who have availability and get in contact with them by email or telephone.
To help these conversations, before making the final decision on which to choose, take a look at our article 10 questions you should ask when meeting with potential care providers.
Step 5:
Make sure you keep your loved one updated if you’re finding care on their behalf, so they feel in control of their own situation and changes.
Additional steps to include if the timescale you’re working within allows:
- In the case of care homes, we recommend viewing each home that is in your final choices list, in order to select which would be the best.
- Spend a few days if possible researching the top offers we provide you. With regards to a care home you’ll mostly likely want to meet the manager. All the professional carers on our site are employed by an organisation, so if you’re looking for care within your own home, you would still meet with a manager as well as some of the carers that may support them.
- Speak to people in your life that have had similar experiences of needing care, if for only support and the key things they learnt themselves.