How to Choose a Care Home

Finding the right care home shouldn’t be stressful, and all care providers should be able to provide you and your loved ones with peace of mind, and a quality of life that meets your expected standards.

At Mariposa Care, we want to make sure you have all the information you need when it comes to selecting the right care home for you. As specialists in all areas of nursing, specialist dementia and residential care, we see many families go through this process who need a guiding hand to help them through the process and reassure them that they or their loved one will be taken care of.

Our guide is designed to help you choose a care home by providing step-by-step advice to ensure you make an informed decision. We hope our care home tips will provide you with confidence and practical advice that you can keep with you during your journey.

Top tips for finding the right care home

1. Check CQC ratings for insights into the quality and care standards of the care home
2. Consider proximity; Is it easily accessible via various methods of travel? I.e., car or public transport.
3. Check if the care home can provide you with support on financial matters
4. Check the care home offers the right type of care for your requirements
5. Consider the types of facilities and amenities you would like the care home to have
6. Visit the care home to explore the facility, see the local area, get a feel for daily life at the home, staff members, and other residents.

Start by understanding your needs

Ask yourself, does your loved one require help with daily activities? Do they require medical assistance? Would they benefit from companionship throughout the day? Or do they need specialist care such as dementia or nursing support?

The best first step is to identify what you need from a care home. Whether you’re selecting for yourself or on behalf of a loved one, understanding the type of care required and the various levels of facilities and amenities you would like within a care home can make the first step an easier one.

If you or a family member requires specialist care for matters such as dementia or simple companionship, you may want to learn about the difference between a Care Home and a Nursing Home, to ensure you’re receiving the correct level of care and support.

A care home does much more than provide you a meal or a good cup of tea. Daily life within a care home can offer mental stimulation and opportunities to create lasting friendships, as well as ensure the safety and well-being of individuals who may otherwise be living alone.

At Mariposa Care, our philosophy is to enrich the lives of all our residents through first-class care provided by our professionally trained team and staff members. Our care ranges from residential care to nursing and specialist care, all of which we can offer permanently or through short-term respite care, ensuring we can provide support day and night to residents who need it most.

Research Care Homes in your area

Choosing a care home close to friends and family makes visiting easier, allows for enjoyable days out without the fuss, and provides a sense of familiarity to individuals who benefit from feeling comfortable in their surroundings.

Ask for recommendations

When beginning your search, reaching out to friends and family who have gone through the same process for recommendations is a great place to start and a great source of honest advice. Their experience will help point you in the right direction for care homes that have a seal of approval or flag care homes that aren’t suitable for your requirements. 

Check care directories for verified care homes

Searching online can prove fruitful if you’re unfamiliar with care homes in the surrounding areas. Checking verified and trusted sites such as carehome.co.uk which offers insight into the types of care, facilities, ratings, and reviews of a care home and gives a general overview to help narrow your search.

Another valuable resource is the NHS website which is particularly useful if you’re searching for care homes that offer services under NHS funding schemes.

Similarly, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website allows you to find homes and check their office care quality score and inspection reports, giving you confidence in a care home’s standards before you add them to your shortlist.

Use Google Maps to explore options nearby

Google Maps is a handy tool if you want to visualise care homes that are close by. By using the map view, you can zoom in and out of a selected area to see where care homes are located, additionally, if you pop in your own home address you can review the travel distance between care homes.

Should you wish to learn more about a particular care home, by clicking on their profiles you can access key details such as public reviews, website links, contact details, and images of the care home.

Review the Care Home’s own website

Once you’ve started to build up a shortlist of care homes, it’s worth taking some time to explore their individual websites.

A well-maintained website can give you plenty of insight into a care home, not only as a first impression but into their ethos and services. Their website should provide you with:

• Information about the staff and care team
• Galleries and photographs of the home and its facilities
• A detailed breakdown of the types of care offered (e.g., dementia care, residential, respite, and nursing)
• Important resources and information such as brochures, contact information, and how you can arrange a visit.

Evaluate the Quality of Care

Facilities and location are one thing, but the level and quality of care are another. A care home that fails to meet certain standards, even if it’s located down the road, may be worth putting to one side to find a home that offers a high standard of care, even if that means travelling slightly further afield.

How do you evaluate the quality of care?

CQC Ratings

One of the best ways to understand if you’re getting the best quality of care is to check a care home’s CQC rating. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator of health and social care in England. It is a legal requirement that all care homes must be registered with the CQC. This ensures that the level of care being delivered can be monitored and reviewed.

The CQC provides four ratings:

• Outstanding
• Good
• Inadequate
• Requires Improvement

Choosing a care home with a rating of Good or Outstanding ensures you’re considering facilities with high-quality care standards.

Arrange a Visit

Another way to determine the level of care is to visit the home yourself to get a feel for how the care home is run and if the standards you expect to see are being met.

• What is the level of cleanliness?
• Are carers welcoming, friendly, and easy to interact with?
• Do residents appear happy and comfortable?
• Do you feel safe in and around the care home and communal areas?
• Is this somewhere you would happily visit regularly to see your loved one?
• What’s the condition of the décor and furniture?
• Do the facilities appear worn or well taken care of?

Take a look at the meals provided, how is the quality? A good meal can make all the difference to someone’s day, so it’s important your loved one is being well-fed.

At Mariposa, we believe a healthy, balanced diet is crucial to the wellbeing of our residents, so much that we’re always trying out new things and switching our menus every week to keep things interesting! We’ve also got brilliant Chefs who cater to certain dietary requirements and those who require a particular diet. Should all this bit be moved into the “visit a care home” section?

Visiting multiple care homes will give you plenty of insight into the levels of care provided and which homes have unique facilities to offer, as well as skill level and which care home is best placed to take care of your loved one if they require specialist care.

If the care home you’re interested in offers short-term stays, allowing your loved one to try out the care home before making a conclusive decision is a great way to trial various care homes in your chosen area to ensure you’re picking the best home that meets your requirements.

These are just some key aspects of the care home to be observant about when visiting for the first time, by keeping them in mind during your visit – you will be more likely to make a more thorough opinion.

You may consider multiple care homes depending on proximity, price and other factors. Be sure to visit all the homes you are interested in and evaluate them using the key areas identified earlier in this section.

Ask Questions

When you visit a care home, be sure to ask any questions you may already have or that come up throughout your visit. Speaking to staff members and getting to know them and their skills will give you more confidence and put any worries at ease.

You should also ask about the facilities, special nursing abilities, and what daily life of a resident typically looks like. Enquiring about security protocols for both the exterior of the home and individual rooms, visiting arrangements for family members and any financial related queries should be discussed.

Paying for a Care Home

When choosing a care home, the cost of care can vary depending on the level of care your loved one requires and any additional fees a care home may incur. It is important to know your budget and available funding options, as this can play a big part in your final decision.

Whether you’re planning this next phase on behalf of a loved one or for yourself, there are ways you can organise personal finances to ensure you have the best affordability.

• Contact your local care authority to advise on if you eligible for funding support
• Ask the care homes you are considering for a clear breakdown of costs
• Establish if there are any additional services you or your loved one may require that go above general care (i.e. hairdressing and beauty treatments)

Find our more information and advice in our “Paying to live in a Mariposa Care home” booklet here.

Your next steps in choosing a Care Home

We understand choosing the right care home for your needs is not always an easy decision. We are here to help you every step of the way, wherever your care journey takes you.

You can explore all our Mariposa Care homes right here on our website. On each page you can watch our home video, download the brochure and read reviews from real-life residents and loved ones. Our care team will be happy and waiting for you to get in touch directly and start your care journey with us.