Find the Right Care Home: A step-by-step companion

By Les Bright on February 5, 2009 in Adults, Older people, Residential care

★★★★

Rosemary Hurtley and Julia Burton Jones

Age Concern England

Written by two people with extensive professional and personal experiences of care homes, this book is a welcome addition to help lay-people confronted with the care maze.

Professionals whose role may limit their contact with homes will also find advice and insights that could usefully add to their own practice.

Readers are taken on this potentially confusing journey in a logical order, addressing the available options, the financial implications, the key issues to consider when searching for a home, preparing to move – and then doing it.

Further chapters consider “learning the ropes” – ways that family members can involve themselves to combat feelings of loss that they may experience as their loved one settles into a new way of life – and finally addresses end-of-life issues sensitively.

The authors succeed in presenting their comprehensive information in an accessible and practical fashion that will prove helpful to people having to think about this topic.

I have one concern: because half of the older people who move to a care home go there direct from hospital, too many family members will find themselves muddling through without the benefit of this accumulated wisdom. A good start would be for all hospital discharge teams to hold a couple of copies to share with anxious relatives.

Les Bright is an independent consultant and professional adviser to the Relatives and Residents Association