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Care Homes – Will Britain once again follow the American trend?

by

Rupert Finlay

In the 1960s care homes were few and far between, and going to one was then seen as a luxury. Sadly that opinion has died off of late, care homes are now seen as more of an expensive inevitability than any real gratification. With a care home or nursing home on every nearly street, the market has squeezed to fit our ageing population. Sadly, so has the competitive nature of the industry. Smaller family run care businesses seem to be now a thing of the past, as larger, modern luxurious facilities take the glimmer off smaller family run care homes that cannot compete. The term care village was labelled on the larger care facilities by American care providers in the late 40s.

America now offers over 300 care villages to its population, in comparison to Britains 20 or so.

Smaller homes local to these large care villages have recently seen at least a dip in profit and in many cases closure. The American care industry is made up largely of care villages that appear to offer everything a senior adult would wish for.

The crippling fact is that Britain seems to going to the same way, lowering choice and taking smaller care homes out of business. However, can these care villages change the standard negative view of moving into full time care? The villages are often referred to as hotels, and generally this label is not far from the truth. They have a large range of activities and facilities, as well as 100s of people to associate with at any time. The sad fact of business is that only the strong survive, and in this case if the market demands larger, newer quality homes or villages then that is what will be supplied.

New larger villages offer more jobs, security to residents and more activities than the now dying out private homes. These villages can cater to all spectrums of care needs from basic retirement to full on nursing24 hour care. With this in mind, residents no longer have to move from their settled environment once their care needs worsen in time. This can often alter their mental state of mind therefore affecting their physical state.

Although standards of care may not differ hugely between the larger care villages and the smaller family run care facilities. The opinion of which facility offers the higher standard of care is hugely different. With power of eternity going to close loved ones, the decision to move mum into the new luxurious home over the small 10 bed home at the end of the road is made, adding to the already steep decline of the small traditional care home.

I think anyone in the industry would welcome a new change and a fresh face and opportunity to potential clients, of course care villages are not for everyone but then neither are smaller old fashioned homes. Watch this space.

About the AuthorRupert Finlay is the directors of Care Homes Today, which is the UK’s leading private care advice service.http://www.carehomestoday.co.uk(For usage of the above article, both the text and link above must be used)

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Care Homes – Will Britain once again follow the American trend?}