Dementia Care
What is Domiciliary Dementia Care?
Domiciliary dementia care refers to professional care delivered within a person’s own home, rather than in a residential facility or hospital. This type of care is especially suitable for individuals living with dementia, as it provides a stable, familiar, and comforting environment. The core philosophy centers around supporting independence, dignity, and emotional well-being, tailored uniquely to each person’s evolving needs.
Core Values Behind Domiciliary Dementia Care
At its heart, domiciliary dementia care is grounded in:
- Empathy: Understanding what life feels like from the individual’s perspective.
- Respect: Valuing the person’s life story, independence, and identity.
- Person-Centred Care: Ensuring the individual, not just the illness, is at the center of every decision.
Domiciliary dementia care through providers like Medicor offers a compassionate, personalized, and holistic alternative to institutional care. By enabling individuals with dementia to remain at home, surrounded by familiarity and supported by trained professionals and loved ones, this approach nurtures dignity, autonomy, and quality of life, even as needs evolve.
Key Features – In Detail
- Familiar Surroundings
- Stimulate memory recall (e.g., a favourite chair or family photographs).
- Help reduce confusion, stress, and disorientation.
- Support the preservation of daily routines (e.g., mealtimes, hobbies), which are essential for cognitive structure and emotional stability.
- Personalised Support
- Medical needs (e.g., medication schedules, mobility support).
- Personality and life history (e.g., favorite music, preferred foods).
- Daily routines and preferences (e.g., bathing at a certain time or using a specific type of soap).
- Trained Carers with Specialist Dementia Knowledge
- Understanding different types and stages of dementia (e.g., Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia).
- Strategies for managing behavioral changes, such as aggression, wandering, or sundowning.
- Communication techniques suited to dementia, including the use of non-verbal cues and validation therapy.
- Emotional support, ensuring that carers know how to create calm, reassuring interactions even during distress or confusion.
- Consistency and Continuity of Care
- Trust and familiarity: The person with dementia sees the same faces, reducing anxiety.
- Improved communication: Carers get to know personal routines, moods, and triggers.
- Better care outcomes: Recognizing subtle changes in behavior or health early.
- Holistic and Meaningful Care
- Mental and emotional health: Using reminiscence therapy, conversation, music, or art activities to keep the mind engaged.
- Social connection: Encouraging interaction, even brief moments of shared laughter or storytelling.
- Identity and purpose: Helping individuals participate in activities they enjoy and feel confident doing.
- Safety and Comfort in the Home
- Fall prevention through safe furniture arrangement and use of assistive devices.
- Wandering or getting lost, by guiding behavior and installing discreet safety measures.
- Kitchen or medication safety, with supervision and support.
- Family Involvement and Support
- Involve family members in care planning and reviews.
- Provide emotional support and respite, helping families avoid burnout.
- Offer education and practical guidance on how to handle dementia-related behaviors or emergencies.
Being at home means being surrounded by personal possessions, familiar furniture, and well-known sights, sounds, and smells, all of which are profoundly comforting for someone with dementia. These familiar cues can:
Care plans are bespoke and flexible, crafted to fit the individual’s:
As dementia progresses, these plans are reviewed regularly and adapted to reflect changing cognitive and physical needs, ensuring that care remains relevant and effective.
Carers undergo specialised dementia training, which includes:
This expertise enables carers to offer compassionate, competent, and responsive support at every stage.
Unlike larger care settings where staff rotations can be frequent, domiciliary care aims to provide a consistent care team. This brings:
This consistency also reassures family members that their loved one is in reliable hands.
Holistic care goes beyond helping with physical tasks like washing, dressing, or eating. It supports:
Every visit is not just about tasks, but about enriching daily life in a way that aligns with the individual’s values, culture, and interests.
Carers are trained to assess and minimize risks common for those with dementia, including:
Home assessments and adjustments can help create a dementia-friendly space, tailored to meet both physical and cognitive challenges.
Medicor and similar providers recognize that family caregivers are central to the care journey. That’s why they:
With strong collaboration between families and carers, the result is a unified support network for the individual receiving care.