Homecare (domiciliary care)

Homecare or domiciliary care is where a person receives additional support from a trained carer with household tasks to help maintain their independence and quality of life. A significant advantage of this type of care is that it is built around the individual’s needs in their own home.

A domiciliary care worker can provide support on a daily or weekly basis, depending on the individual’s specific needs. In some cases, there is the alternative of around-the-clock care known as live-in care.

For those not familiar with domiciliary care, it is worth noting that anyone can benefit from this type of care at any point in their lives; it’s available to everyone regardless of age or circumstance. Carers also provide respite care to family members who need to take a break from the daily care of a loved one.

Domiciliary carers can help with a range of tasks, including:

• personal and continence care
• managing medication
• shopping
• companionship
• helping to mobilise in and around the home
• household tasks and meal preparation
• accompanying the individual on visits to the doctor
• clinical care, including catheter and stoma management and PEG feeding
• more specialist care such as dementia and palliative care

The UK standards of domiciliary care allow care workers to only administer medications that are prescribed by a doctor, not over-the-counter medicines.

Care workers are not trained nurses. If this type of care is needed, an appropriately qualified professional would be recommended.