Finding the right care home company can be an emotional and stressful time. For many families, the issue may be that they are considering several award-winning care homes and don’t know which one is most suitable or are struggling to understand whether they need residential care or more specialised nursing care.
This is a scenario which the Forest Healthcare group helps prospective clients with every day. Having a network of highly regarded, well-equipped care and nursing centres ensures we can offer independent advice and recommendations, supporting those complex decisions and offering the benefit of our expertise.
If you’re finding it difficult to access care within your community, are stuck between choosing a care home close by or further afield or want a friendly listening ear to guide you through, we’ve covered all the information you need to know.
How Does a Care Home Group Differ From a Standalone Care Centre?
Care homes offer a wide range of services, from basic residential care for adults who remain relatively independent to nursing care centres that provide around-the-clock medical assistance and specialist facilities that offer dedicated dementia care or support for specific conditions, diagnoses, and rehabilitation programs.
Families who haven’t required care before can often be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of choices, and might delay a transition into a care setting, or worry that they’ll organise care accommodation only to find it isn’t right for their loved one.
Forest Healthcare is a private group of exceptional care centres with varied specialisms, facilities, nursing support, and long-established expertise in vital services, including respite care. Our best advice is to get in touch if you need support.
As a group, we consult with each family or individual on a personalised basis, getting to know what types of care would benefit their quality of life and the nature of the conditions, mobility difficulties, health needs, and the nursing care a person requires.
This tailored approach can make selecting the best-suited centre an easy decision, where we can suggest the centre that is closest to family members, has a fantastic team of dementia specialists, or is ideal for older people who need to feel safe and well, but who would prefer to carry out most day-to-day tasks independently, as just a few examples.
Why Might the Closest Care or Nursing Homes Not Be Ideal?
Location is always a factor, and if you have a Mum, Dad, partner, or grandparent living in a residential setting, you want to be able to visit as often as possible or drop in for important celebrations like Christmas and birthdays.
However, it’s also just one consideration. If you don’t have a great care centre close by, or have several that you need to choose between, we’d always suggest thinking about what the highest standards of care will look like to you, and the facilities and activities that will ensure your loved one will be happy, content and well looked after. Here’s just a snapshot of some of the elements that might make one care centre the perfect home:
- Beautiful homes with welcoming staff, private and comfortable rooms, and ample outdoor space for gardening, BBQs and parties. Care centre residents thrive when they have spacious surroundings and comfort, with plenty of natural light.
- Nursing homes with the clinical knowledge and staffing to provide ongoing symptom management, or who are experienced in supporting residents with either a diagnosed or life-limiting condition, or during recovery and rehabilitation.
- Professional staff who invite you for an in-person tour and are happy to chat about the types of activities and routines they follow, and how they adapt these to cater to favourite hobbies, dietary requirements and the foods that residents enjoy.
- Diverse and personalised schedules, with therapies such as music and song known to help care centre residents live fulfilling, happy lives, and where there are lots of opportunities to make friends, join clubs, or even try new crafts or activities.
If you have doubts or reservations, feel reluctant to commit to a care centre you’re not completely happy with, or want more information about the care quality on offer, it’s far better to pause and review your options, given the amount of strain and upset we know this can cause.
What Are the Advantages of Choosing a Care Centre Group?
The ability to choose between several fully regulated, high-quality care and nursing centres is, of course, a positive. Still, another less obvious benefit to having a place in a private group is that, if the care needs of a resident change, or they require additional and more specialised support, that transition needn’t be disruptive.
Many of the centres in the Forest Healthcare group offer a range of care services, from respite care to relieve the burden from family caregivers to post-hospital rehabilitation, palliative and end-of-life care and long-term care support – and we recognise that care needs don’t always remain static.
In every case, if we identify that a current care plan is becoming outdated or that a revised plan would benefit the life of a resident, the first step is to consult with their loved ones and any relevant health professionals to enact swift changes that protect their well-being and comfort.
For Forest Healthcare residents, that could simply mean increasing the contact points and level of interaction their care teams have, such as providing additional help with mealtimes and medications if this wasn’t previously needed.
Rather than needing to relocate from a residential care home to a nursing centre and experience the upheaval of moving, we can adjust and enhance the person-focused care we provide, giving families the peace of mind that their loved one is in the best possible place.
As always, if you need further guidance on finding or choosing a nursing or care home, or would like an informal discussion with one of our compassionate care managers, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at any time.