Completing your care appraisal

Completing your care appraisal is one of the most important steps when it comes to getting everything arranged with us. It’s your opportunity to tell us all the important details about your loved one and where they live.

We’ll use your information to find the carer with the right level of experience and the perfect personality to fit seamlessly into your loved one’s life.  In this guide, we run through the care appraisal and what it might be useful to think about when completing it.

All about your loved one

This section is where we’ll ask for all the information we need about your loved one to understand who they are and what time of support they need. 

Basic information 

There’s nothing out of the ordinary in this section, it’s information you’re likely to know. We’ll ask for a name, gender and date of birth. 

Their story

This is a chance to really give your future carer a clear picture of your loved one’s life. The more detail you get into at this point the better. A detailed story can really help a carer get a feel for a person – making it easier for them to forge a lasting connection. 

It’s exactly as the name suggests. Give a good overview of your loved one’s life. Think about including the following:

Early Life

Early life

Where they were born and spent their childhood. 

Working life

What they did for a living throughout their life.

Senior woman, African-American friend laughing together

Social life

Who they like to spend their time with.

Big events

Which life events have really defined them.

Their character

What sort of personality they have and who they get on with.

Senior woman, African-American friend laughing together

Here and now

Their current situation and state of mind.

Hobbies and social activities

This is all about giving your loved one’s carer a clear view of the things they enjoy doing.

Memberships of social clubs

Visiting day centres

grandma-and-grandson-sitting-on-the-sofa-together

Seeing friends and family

Activities in the home and garden

driving and dementia

Getting out and about

World Alzheimer's Month

Daily walks and exercises

Medical conditions 

To make sure we find a carer who has the relevant experience, we ask you to tell us about any medical conditions your loved one has.

Select condition

Select a condition from the dropdown menu, if the condition you’re looking for isn’t there, just pick ‘other’.

Describe its impact

In the ‘description and impact’ box, run through the severity of the condition, how it usually manifests itself and what care is often required to help support with the symptoms. The more detail you provide here the better.

Add as many as you need

If your loved one has multiple medical needs, press the ‘add condition’ button and keep going until you have everything covered.

Medication 

Before completing the care appraisal, make sure you check with your loved one, their GP, or their pharmacist about any prescriptions they may have. Although our carers are unable to administer medication, they’re able to prompt your loved one to take it at the right time.

So your loved one’s carer can help make sure everything is taken when it should be, it’s important to add the following information to your care appraisal.

Direction and dosage

How and when your loved one takes their medication and the amount they take at each interval.

Awareness of medcation

Whether your loved one is able to take their medication independently, whether they need reminding and whether they understand what it’s for.

Collecting prescriptions

How your loved one usually collects their prescriptions – e.g. specific pharmacy or delivery service they use and how regularly. 

Ready to get started?

You don’t have to fill in everything at once. It might be easier taking it section by section.

All about your loved one’s care needs

Personal care

This section deals with the more sensitive aspects of your loved one’s needs. If you haven’t been the person caring for a loved one until now, you’ll likely need to have an open and honest conversation with them about what type of personal care they require.

Before completing the care appraisal, it’s best to make sure you have an understanding of any help your loved one requires with: 

Washing

Toileting

Getting Dressed

Getting dressed

Hair care

how can a love in carer help with personal care

Nail and foot care

Elderly man sleeping lightly in the morning

Going to bed

Continence 

This short section covers your loved one’s toileting needs. Obviously, this is a delicate matter. If you’re unsure about it, talking directly with any previous carers or social worker can be a good place to start. As well as detailing the use of a stoma and catheter, it’s a good idea to cover: 

How often they go

Roughly the gaps in between trips to the loo.

Whether it’s voluntary

Whether they have control or warning over going.

Type of incontinence 

Whether it’s urinary, faecal, or both.

Nighttime and sleeping

Obviously, sleeping patterns aren’t exactly the same every night. However, in this section, we ask you to give us a good idea of how things usually go. It’s essential this is as accurate as possible as it’s one of the key considerations in judging the number of carers required. 

  1. What time they usually go to bed
  2. Number of wake-ups during the night
  3. What causes them to wake up

What time they usually go to bed

Number of wake-ups during the night

 

What causes them to wake up

 

Challenging behaviour 

If your loved one is living with dementia, or has survived a stroke, they may develop challenging behaviour. This is in no way their fault. But it’s something we’ll have to inform your carer about before they arrive. Challenging behaviour can include:

Aggression such as swearing and shouting 

Sexually inappropriate behaviour and touching 

Self-injurious behaviour or self-harm

You don't have to do this alone

Add family members to your account to work on things as a team

Food and diet

While many of us often see meals simply as a necessity, for those in later life it can mean so much more. From a Sunday Roast to fish on a Friday, they can become an integral part of structuring the days of the week. In this section, tell us how that week looks. For each day of the week think about:

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

As well as laying out what the weekly menu looks like, it’s important to be clear on:

Preferred meal times

What times your loved one likes to enjoy their meals.

Dietary requirements

Whether your loved one is vegetarian or has allergies.

Feeding

Pureed food, or if your loved one uses a feeding tube.

Mobility 

Whether they’re able to get around just fine, or they’re unable to get around very much at all, this section is all about talking us through your loved one’s ability to move. 

State of mobility

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Estimate of weight

home carer help after a hospital discharge

Any recent falls

As well as critical information about your loved one’s general state of mobility, we’ll also ask you if they use any of the following mobility equipment to get about. Some of these will be obvious, but can be a good idea to have a look round your loved one’s home if you’re unsure. 

  • Hoist
  • Transfer aids
  • Slide sheets
  • Grab rails
  • Stairlift
  • Wheelchair
  • Specialist seating
  • Walking aids

All about your loved one’s home

This short section is the last of the care appraisal. It’s all about providing your incoming carer with an idea of the home they’re moving into.

Household description

In the first part of this section, we ask that you write a few a paragraphs to describe the home. In MyElder, we provide an example of the kind of thing we’re looking for, but here’s the kind of things it’d be really helpful for your carer if you included.

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Type of property

Paint a picture of the property to help the carer imagine living there. e.g. number of bedrooms.

Local amenities

For example, run through the nearest supermarkets, chemists, parks

Elder COPD care

Nearest transport

Details of the nearest train station, local bus routes and local taxi companies.

Things that make a big difference to carers

There are some things that make a real difference to the carer’s quality of life. We’ll ask you about the following:

Activities to do inside

Internet

Whether there’s a wifi connection your loved one can use.

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Pets

Details of cats, dogs etc. that need looking after.

Smoking

Whether there’s anyone in the household who smokes.

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Household duties

Other than care duties, what domestic support is required.

Carer meals

Whether your carer will share meals with your loved one, and if they’ll have their own food budget

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Carer breaks

Detail when your carer is able to take a break through the day.

Unsure how to complete a section?

Remember we’re here to help. If anything is unclear, just give us a call.