Your Guide to Choosing the Right Dementia Care

When a loved one living with dementia needs additional care and support, we understand finding the right care can be overwhelming. Ensuring they receive the best possible care is essential, but with so many options available, it can be difficult to know where to start.

This guide aims to provide you with valuable information to help you determine what is the best care for dementia patients, whom we refer to as those living with dementia.

When should someone with dementia go into a care home?

If you are considering whether a loved one may benefit from moving into a care home, you may want to consider the following signs:

• Difficulties with daily activities: Unable to manage daily activities, such as washing, dressing, cooking and cleaning.
• Safety concerns: Frequent falls or habits of wandering.
• Declining health: A need for more intensive care.
• Carer burnout: If a family member is struggling to provide the required level of care.

Studies have found those living with dementia have a better overall wellbeing when living in a care home. Cognitive stimulating activities, social interactions and person-centred care contribute to their improved quality of life.

What to consider when evaluating dementia care options

When moving a loved one into a care home, you want to feel confident that they are receiving the best care possible and that all their needs are being met. To help simplify what to consider when choosing a care home for dementia care, here are key factors to contemplate.

Level of Care Required

The first step is to understand the specific needs of your loved one. As there are many types of dementia, care requirements can vary widely. Although there are common symptoms associated to each of the various types of dementia, everyone’s needs are unique. The stage of dementia can also impact the level of care required.

• Early stage: Individuals may need help with daily activities but can still manage many tasks independently.
• Middle stage: Assistance required for day-to-day tasks, such as washing, dressing and eating.
• Late stage: Individuals will be more dependent and reliant on care and support for medical and personal tasks.

When embarking on your journey to find the right care home, you will come across two types of dementia care. They are residential dementia care and nursing dementia care. If your loved one needs support with day-to-day tasks, then they are likely to need residential dementia care. However, if they also need 24/7 nursing care, then nursing dementia care is required.

When discussing care needs with a Home Manager, it is critical they conduct an in-depth assessment so that they not only get a firm understanding of the care requirements, but also your loved one’s interests, likes and dislikes.

By gaining this understanding, the Home Manager will be able to advise if they can accommodate the care needs, but also go through life in the home and if it is a suitable match for both you and your loved one.

Specialised dementia care

When considering a care home, ensure they provide specialised dementia care, which means the team are qualified and experienced in how to care for someone living with dementia.

What to expect:

• Expertise in dementia care: Teams trained in dementia care and understand the unique needs and challenges of individuals living with dementia. Training will provide team members with a wide range of skills and knowledge, ensuring they provide care that improves the individual’s quality of life.
• Personalised care plans: Individualised care plans that identifies the specific needs, preferences, interests and history of each resident.
• Safety and security: Enhanced safety measures within care homes providing dementia care to provide a safe and secure environment that helps to reduce confusion and prevent wandering.
• Dignity and respect: A team that is committed to creating a compassionate and supportive atmosphere. Each resident is treated with respect and their dignity is preserved.

Lifestyle and facilities

Along with receiving specialised care, it’s crucial the home has a vibrant atmosphere and suitable facilities as they play a significant role in the wellbeing of residents living with dementia.

What to expect:

• Structure and routine: The care home will have a consistent routine. This helps reduce anxiety and confusion for those living with dementia.
• Decor: A care home’s environment can have a huge impact on the wellbeing of those living with dementia. Careful consideration is made when choosing a colour scheme and design features as this can help reduce falls, use of some medications and improve morale. Homes will avoid the use of too many colours, busy wallpaper designs and gloss paints as this can be distracting and distressing for those with dementia. Instead, the décor will provide contrast between walls, flooring and handrails. Good lighting is also used to help residents navigate and support them to remain independent.
• Activities: Everchanging activities programme inspired by the interests and capabilities of residents. Activities will be a mixture of group and one-to-one sessions and are designed to maintain good mental, physical and emotional health. Activities may include sensory stimulation, music sessions and pet therapy.
•  Nutrition & hydration: Residents living with dementia may experience problems with eating and drinking. To prevent malnutrition or dehydration, information such as what and when they eat, preferences and dietary requirements will be tracked in their care plan to ensure actions are taken to promote good wellbeing. Teams will also assess the level of support required during mealtime and will aim to promote the individual’s independence and maintain their mealtime skills. Mealtime environment preferences are also taken into consideration. For some, mealtimes are a social occasion that offers opportunities to stimulate positive eating patterns, whereas others may find the social setting overwhelming and may prefer a single table setting.
• Emotional and social support: Trained teams provide emotional support to residents and their loved ones, helping to maintain good emotional wellbeing. Group settings and interactions with team members help to prevent loneliness and promote good health.
• Personalised bedrooms: Residents living with dementia need familiarity in their home environment, so teams will encourage you to bring personal items from your loved one’s home to help them feel safe and secure.

Tips for visiting and assessing potential care homes

Visiting potential care homes is a crucial step in choosing the right home for your loved one. Here are some top tips to help you assess each home:

• Prepare for the visit: Consider your loved one’s needs, as you will be asked many questions about them, including care requirements, interests, medication, mobility and preferences.
• Observe interactions: Pay attention to how the team interact with residents and families. They should be kind, helpful, respectful and patient.
• Take note of facilities and cleanliness: The home should be spotless and well-maintained. You will also want to consider what facilities are essential for you and your loved one. This could be a secure garden, easy access to public transport or the ability to cater to a specialised diet.
• Activities in the home: Find out about the activities in the home and if they align with your loved one’s interests and abilities.
• Talk to residents and families: If possible, speak to residents and families during your visit to get their feedback on the home.
• Ask questions: Prepare questions that will help you to choose a care home. This could be learning about visiting hours, how care plans are personalised, the team’s qualifications and how the home communicates with family members.

We have a comprehensive guide on tips for visiting care homes and a handy downloadable checklist.

Why choose a brighterkind or Four Seasons care home?

If you feel a care home is the best option for your loved one, a Four Seasons or brighterkind home may be the perfect choice. Our research-based, award nominated approach to dementia care is delivered by teams who are committed to providing care that makes residents feel valued and support them to have a fulfilling life.

At Four Seasons Health Care Group, you can expect:

• Positive, life-enhancing approach: It is our mission to support those in our care to look forward to every day.
• Researched based approach: We worked with Bournemouth University to develop a dementia care approach that places the individual at the centre of everything we do.
• Teams receive ongoing training: Our homes have dementia leaders, who we call Dementia Champions. These individuals complete our extensive training programme, ensuring they possess the knowledge and skills to implement and promote our dementia care approach within their home.
• Award-nominated dementia care: We were finalists in The Dementia Care Awards 2024 and The National Care Awards 2023.
• Activities programme: Vibrant activities, which we call Magic Moments. Our programmes are inclusive and are inspired by residents’ interests and needs. From one-to-one sessions and pet therapy to sensory activities and day trips, our Magic Moments programme is designed to stimulate the mind, body and soul.
• Food & dining: Our carefully crafted menus are inspired by residents’ feedback and extensive research into nutrition. Our Chefs are trained to cater to specialist diets, including IDDSI and modified food choices.
• Optician services: We offer a complimentary check-up with the country’s leading eye care specialists, who come to the home. This is particularly important for those living with dementia as they will be in a familiar and safe environment.
• Partnerships with leading specialists: We are proud to partner with a wide variety of specialists, to ensure all areas of our care is the very best.

We welcome you to visit your local Four Seasons or brighterkind home to see first-hand how we make a difference to the lives of our residents and create vibrant communities.

Reference list

Brodaty, H., & Cumming, A. (2010). Dementia services in Australia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(9), 887-905.

Spector, A., Orrell, M., Davies, S., & Woods, B. (2001). Can reality orientation be rehabilitated? Development and piloting of an evidence-based programme of cognition-based therapies for people with dementia. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 11(3-4), 377-397.

Day, K., Carreon, D., & Stump, C. (2000). The therapeutic design of environments for people with dementia: A review of the empirical research. The Gerontologist, 40(4), 397-416.

Fleming, R., & Purandare, N. (2010). Long-term care for people with dementia: Environmental design guidelines. International Psychogeriatrics, 22(7), 1084-1096.

Volkert, D., Chourdakis, M., Faxen-Irving, G., Frühwald, T., Landi, F., Suominen, M. H., … & Schneider, S. M. (2015). ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in dementia. Clinical Nutrition, 34(6), 1052-1073.

Nijs, K. A., de Graaf, C., Kok, F. J., & van Staveren, W. A. (2006). Effect of family-style meals on quality of life, physical performance, and body weight of nursing home residents: Cluster randomized controlled trial. BMJ, 332(7551), 1180-1184.