Organising care for yourself or a loved one can feel like a daunting process. With different types of care available, it can be tricky to determine which service will meet your needs best.
Two popular types of care that are designed to improve people’s quality of life by providing care at home are hourly care and live-in care. The difference between them lies in the amount of time that a carer spends with you.
Live-in care and hourly care both have their own benefits – and the right one for you will depend on things like your budget and care needs.
Here, we’ll take a closer look at both live-in care and hourly care to help you consider your options.
What is live-in care?
Live-in care involves having someone live with you at home to provide around-the-clock care and support.
Responsibilities of a live-in carer include everything from companionship and emotional support to help with personal care and domestic tasks like cooking and cleaning. Specialist live-in care can also be provided for people with conditions like dementia.
Live-in care is a great option for individuals who need care but wish to maintain their independence and live at home. For this reason, live-in care is a popular alternative to care homes for people with comprehensive care needs that can be met at home.
With long-term live-in care, carers typically require breaks every two or three weeks to prevent burnout, and make sure they’re delivering the best quality of care.
Some care providers have two live-in carers who work in rotation with each other. This means that clients can receive care from the same carers, which isn’t always possible with care agencies. This sense of familiarity can make all the difference, particularly in cases of dementia or other progressive diseases.
What is hourly care?
Unlike having a carer live with you 24-7, hourly care involves having occasional visits from a carer, as and when needed.
For example, hourly carers might stop by to complete household tasks, take people to medical appointments, or for companionship purposes.
As such, hourly care offers people the security of having on-hand care when it’s needed, but is also highly flexible and allows people to maintain their space and independence. It may be a suitable option for people who have care needs but don’t require permanent or round-the-clock support.
Live-in care vs hourly care – what are the benefits?
Both live-in care and hourly care have their own benefits and the one which suits you or your loved one best will depend on personal circumstances.
Below, we’ll compare some of the benefits of live-in care and hourly care in relation to different care needs and preferences.
Remaining at home
According to this survey, 97% of people say they’d prefer to carry on living at home rather than moving into a care home.
Both live-in care and hourly care allow people to remain at home (provided their care needs can be met there) – and there are plenty of benefits to this.
Receiving care at home can help people maintain their dignity, independence, and comforts, and avoid the emotional disruption of having to move home – all of which are important for overall happiness and wellbeing.
Ability to meet care needs
The complexity of a person’s care needs is a key factor in determining the right kind of care.
If someone needs 24/7 care, they may benefit from live-in care, which is the most comprehensive form of care outside of care homes.
Many live-in carers are also trained to provide specialist care for people with ongoing health conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinsons.
On the other hand, for someone who needs help with household tasks or trips to medical appointments but can look after themselves the rest of the time, hourly care might be more appropriate.
Companionship
Research has found that struggling with loneliness and isolation is an incredibly common problem among elderly people. According to Age UK, around 1.4 million older people in the UK are often lonely.
Both loneliness and isolation are linked with a significantly greater risk of developing various physical and mental health conditions, including cognitive decline and a weakened immune system. For example, in this study, social isolation was found to increase the risk of dementia by around 50%.
As a result, making sure a person’s social needs are equally cared for alongside their physical health is important for their overall wellbeing. And while both live-in care and hourly care offer some form of companionship, the levels vary.
Live-in carers spend hours with those they care for each day, which places more focus on social care and companionship. Many people develop deep relationships with their carers – and having someone there to listen, reassure, and chat can remind them that they’re not alone.
On the other hand, hourly carers have less time for friendly chats alongside their other care duties. Some hourly carers will visit multiple clients in a day and have a timetable to stick to. Therefore, people who receive hourly care may have minimal (or at least, significantly less) social interaction with their carers.
That said, it’s important to remember that this isn’t always the case. For some people, having someone pop in each day is all they need. And, because hourly care often involves a larger team of carers, some people enjoy being able to interact with a variety of people.
It’s important that people can choose their carers to make sure they’re the right fit. Some care providers have an interview process which allows clients to meet potential carers beforehand.
Flexible, personalised care
While both hourly and live-in carers can help with personal and household needs, live-in care can be more flexible and personalised.
Live-in carers aren’t tied to multiple clients, which means they can carry out care at a time or pace that’s best for you.
Plus, because you’ll spend a lot of time together, live-in carers will learn more about your likes and dislikes, which can make the care you receive more personal. Even having someone know what your favourite meals are can make all the difference.
Maintaining independence
Losing independence is one of the most common concerns among people looking for care. It’s also a key reason that so many people prefer to receive care at home over moving into a care home.
Hourly care can be a convenient choice for people who need care but want to keep up their daily routines and way of life with little disruption.
However, with live-in care, a higher degree of change is required as live-in carers will live alongside you and require accommodation in your home. Some people find it difficult to adjust to this change in living arrangements – particularly if they’ve lived on their own for a while.
That said, it largely depends on how the person needing care perceives independence. For example, while some people see having a carer move into their home as a loss of independence, others find great freedom in no longer having to rely on family and friends for help.
Freedom
According to Age UK, as many as 600,000 older people leave their house once a week or less, 900,000 people feel trapped in their homes, and three million would like to go out more often.
Not being able to leave home without help from a carer or relative can be very restricting. So receiving care can make all the difference.
Live-in care is the most flexible care option as, with the help of a carer, people can leave the house whenever they wish. Live-in carers can help people engage with activities outside of their homes if and when they want to. For example, going shopping, attending community and family events, taking up hobbies, making social connections, or visiting nearby attractions.
There’s a level of flexibility around hourly care too, though this is dependent on when carers are available.
Peace of mind
A huge benefit of receiving care is the assurance and peace of mind it can offer the person and their loved ones.
Hourly care can provide a lifeline to families who need support caring for their loved one. Being able to rely on hourly carers at times of the day when you’re not around can make all the difference – and very often, takes a huge amount of pressure away.
In contrast, live-in care may be more suitable for people whose families aren’t able to help out with care, or if the care needs are more complex.
Knowing that someone is there to administer care to your loved one 24/7 can relieve huge amounts of worry – for example, over whether they might’ve had a fall or forgotten to take their medication.
Care cost
To make sure care can be delivered long-term, it’s important to consider the cost of different care services.
The cost of live-in and hourly care will vary depending on a person’s care needs and where they live. Hourly care is charged at an hourly rate, whereas live-in care fees are charged weekly.
You can find more information about the cost of hourly care and live-in care on the NHS website.
Final thoughts…
Both live-in care and hourly care can provide peace of mind, reduce loneliness, provide greater independence, and allow people to remain in the comfort of their own home.
To find out more about the different types of care available, you might like to read our article; 7 common types of care explained.
Alternatively, the care section of our website has information on everything from paying for care to support for carers.
Have you got any experience of live-in care or hourly care? What do you think are the benefits of each? We’d be interested to hear from you in the comments below.