Returning from hospital can be a difficult time. Not only may you face the task of readjusting to home life, but your physical abilities may not necessarily be up to the task.
Otherwise referred to as reablement, intermediate care works by providing up to six weeks of care to patients returning from unexpected hospital visits.
To find out how you can take advantage of this free form of care, keep reading as we discuss the ins and outs of intermediate care.
What is Intermediate Care?
Intermediate care is a free-of-charge rehabilitation service that is offered to patients after certain periods of hospitalisation.
It has a specific focus on helping individuals readjust to their regular home lives by providing support with a variety of tasks. However, intermediate care can also extend towards more complicated duties, depending on the situation.
In the UK, there are four types of intermediate care available
Reablement
In order to retain both confidence and independence, reablement delivers assistance with everyday jobs such as preparing food, staying clean and getting dressed.
Home-based
Home-based intermediate care offers support directly within homes. Traditionally delivered by a team of health experts, this type of intermediate care may be especially useful in providing more complex types of assistance, such as physiotherapy after surgery.
Bed-based
Bed-based intermediate care is provided in a similar fashion to home-based intermediate care, except it is tailored towards bed bound individuals and is delivered through a short-term stay in a care home, hospital, or independent facility.
Crisis Response
As the name suggests, crisis response intermediate care is provided in reaction to an emergency hospital visit. This is to try and propose a less-drastic means of care if one is available.
Who is Intermediate Care For?
As a form of rehabilitation, the overall objective of intermediate care is to identify a patient’s struggles and figure out ways of rectifying them in the future.
Therefore, intermediate care may be best suited to people in the following circumstances:
Hospital Avoidance
If an individual becomes ill for whatever reason, intermediate care may be able to be used as an alternative to a hospital.
Home Assistance
Those that are already receiving home care may be given reablement services as a means of identifying potential ways to increase the patient’s quality of care. This can also be given to people struggling with daily life as a result of a recent diagnosis.
Supplementing End of Life Care
If you are receiving end of life care, you may be given intermediate care to meet short-term goals and help further improve your quality of life.
Dementia Sufferers
By avoiding potentially upsetting experiences in hospitals, intermediate care is especially helpful for people suffering with dementia.
How My Care My Home Can Help
Ready to take the next step? My Care My Home can help.
By liaising with our network of trusted caregivers, our team of experienced professionals can provide you with both expert financial/caring advice, as well as care services either directly or through our partners.
We can help you with all aspects of caregiving thanks to our years of experience in the sector. Whether it’s applying for financial assistance or arranging an intermediate care assessment, we will be with you every step of the way.
The Process
Everyone’s case is different, but in general, this is what you can expect while contacting us:
1. Initial Contact
This is where we get to know you and understand the situation you are in. Our friendly team will ask about your struggles and what you wish to accomplish with care.
2. Friendly Advice
Throughout the process, we will pass on as much useful advice as we can to help you better understand the whole caregiving process. It is here where we begin to hone in on a potential solution for your problems and figure out the best course of action to suit you.
3. Moving Forward
With your needs in place and identified, we start to look towards how else you could benefit from the many caregiving services available to you, sourcing them as and when needed. This helps improve your experience and allows us to track your progress.