Is a live-in care job right for you?
The caring professions are more in demand than ever, which means that carers have various interesting possibilities open to them as they progress in their careers and seek new challenges.
One popular route for carers is live-in care work. This is a role with a high degree of responsibility, and it tends to suit more experienced carers. But is it right for you? We take a closer look at everything you need to know about being a live-in carer.
What exactly is live-in care?
As the name suggests, live-in care is a form of care that involves the carer living with their client. This might be on a full-time basis or on a part-time basis, according to the client’s needs. The live-in carer is there to help their client to remain in their home with all of the familiarity and comfort that this offers.
How does live-in care work?
The carer lives in the property with their client, benefiting from their own room and sharing co-living spaces. Sometimes, live-in carers also have their own private living space, depending on the size of the property and the arrangements. The carer will help their client with everything that they need to enjoy a good quality of life.
On a day-to-day basis, the live-in carer would usually carry out these types of tasks for their client:
- Buying food and preparing meals
- Doing the laundry and making beds
- Helping the person to dress and carry out their personal care
- Accompanying the client on walks, helping them to maintain social connections, encouraging them to attend groups and helping to make the necessary practical arrangement etc.
- Providing vital social support at home, such as watching TV, discussing past times, talking about hobbies and generally offering companionship.
- Keeping the home clean, tidy and safe
- Helping the client to take their prescription medications and organising these
- Helping the client to make and attend all relevant appointments for doctors, dentists and so forth. This usually involves liaising with other agencies involved in the client’s care, including family.
- Encouraging the client to pursue hobbies and interests
- Encouraging healthy practices, such as outdoor time for fresh air, or crosswords for mental agility.
Who benefits from live-in care?
All kinds of people benefit immensely from live-in care, especially when they don’t want to leave their homes and move to a residential facility, such as a care home. Live-in care allows people to continue to live with dignity, but with the support they need to carry out tasks that they can’t do themselves.
When people can’t live with family or gain this support from family members for whatever reason, live-in care is a very popular option that maintains a high quality of life. It can often provide a new lease of life for people too, especially when the carer is able to encourage new interests and remove obstacles to socialising and getting outdoors, for example.
How can I become a live-in carer?
Carers undertake specific training in the UK to become fully qualified to care for vulnerable people. Existing care qualifications are useful but many employers will fund training and qualifications, usually beginning at NVQ Level 2 in Health and Social Care and progressing up to Level 7 for managers. Working as a live-in carer is challenging and rewarding, and it tends to suit people with high degrees of compassion, patience, resilience, motivation and problem-solving. It also offers excellent career opportunities and progression and it can be extremely rewarding and interesting too.
One of the many benefits of working as a live-in carer is that it can be cost-effective if you don’t need to rent your own property whilst working for your client. It also affords the chance to really help someone and to greatly benefit their life. Another benefit is the chance to find ready work with a large number of agencies, as this type of work is heavily in demand and growing. There are opportunities available across the UK and also even overseas.
