Dedicated dementia care at home
- Choose your own experienced dementia carer
- Stay in familiar surroundings
- One-to-one care built around your routine
Experts on hand
Advisors available 7 days a week.
Fast placements
Get care in place in as little as 24 hours.
Transparent pricing
No weekend or bank holiday surcharges, and joining fee.
5000+ vetted carers
Choose your own experience dementia carer.
Why choose Elder for dementia care?
85% of us would want to stay in our own home if diagnosed with dementia. Arranging live-in dementia care with Elder keeps your loved one safe, while maintaining a high degree of independent living. Whether your loved one is living with Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, or Parkinson’s, they’ll be able to keep their familiar and comfortable routine, while you get the peace of mind that someone with the right skills and experience is with them 24/7.
Truly personalised care
Support is shaped around routine, likes and dislikes. 98%* of people receiving live-in care say it helps them have a better quality of life.
*Source: The Live in Care Hub
Get peace of mind 24/7
Carers have the skills to manage difficult dementia symptoms, and you can see how things are going via your MyElder account.
Spend quality time as a family
A live-in carer takes caring responsibilities off of family members, allowing you to spend meaningful time with your loved one.
Flexible to your loved one’s needs
With unlimited carer matching you can feel confident in finding the right carer at the right time as dementia progresses.
What does a live-in carer do?
Live-in dementia caregivers perform a range of domestic and personal care duties to support wellbeing. Exactly what your carer will support with will be bespoke to your care requirements, but common tasks include –
Houskeeping
From vacuuming and sanitising surfaces, to laundry and staying on top of clutter, carers can help keep the house clean and tidy to ensure it’s safe, comfortable and relaxing.
Getting dressed and ready
They'll offer a delicate, reassuring hand to get into clothes and help a person look their best.
Personal care
Carers will provide discreet and sensitive support with intimate tasks such as washing and toileting.
Preparing meals
They'll provide nutritious meals to suit individual tastes and dietary requirements, and ensuring hydration is prioritised.
Managing symptoms
Dementia affects everyone differently, carers will be able to provide specialist support to help with anything from confusion to sundowning.
Medication prompting
Carers help ensure any medication is taken at the right time, at the right dose (as per the prescription instructions)
Mobility
Carers can help keep older people moving and encourage gentle exercise. They can also ensure any activity advised by a medical professional is followed.
Getting out and about
From picking up a prescription in the chemist, to seeing friends and attending clubs and day centres.
Companionship
Carers will be there to listen and chat to, encourage hobbies, and help an older person to maintain an active and fulfilling social life.
Pet care
For pet owners, a carer can help feed, exercise, and clean up after household pets
How it works
Tell us what you need
Give us a call or get started online. We’ll ask you some simple questions about your care needs and preferences, and will begin matching you with carers based on your answers. You’ll receive the details of suitable carers in 24 hours.
Shape your solution
Review your carers and chat to your favourites, before choosing who you like best. You’ll also need to complete your care profile – our clinical team uses this to ensure care can go ahead safely.
Stay in control of everything
Once care is in place you and your family can control care from anywhere with MyElder. And if you need to speak to someone, our specialist family support team will happily answer your questions.
“We used to have Helping Hands to care for our mum with dementia and when we started having problems with them we asked Elder to take over the live in care. What a difference, fantastic staff, great communication and the carer we have is absolutely fantastic!”
– Jane
“Andrea was an experienced ex-nurse and coped with our family member’s deteriorating situation with unstinting good humour and kindness. “
– Jen
“Elder have been amazing matching my mother with an experienced dementia live-in carer. Within a week, my mother is settled and we cannot believe the change is our mother’s as she is much calmer and happier. “
– Karen
Dulcie and Colin’s story
Dulcie is 102-years-old and lives with her son Colin, his wife Mary, and her Carer Sarah. She has dementia and has had full-time live-in care for over two years.
We talk to the family about the challenges of finding the right care solution for a fiercely independent woman – and how the positive benefits of live-in care with Sarah has transformed all of their lives.
Speak to an expert
Interested in finding out more about dementia live-in care from Elder? Get started by booking an appointment with one of our expert care advisors.
Find a friendly face and safe pair of hands
We go to great lengths to ensure that every independent carer on our platform is someone you can trust and get on with. We perform the detailed background checks and assessments you’d expect from a leading care provider, starting with the simple question, ‘Would I want this person looking after my own mum or dad?’
- Less than 10% of applicants pass our screening process
- Carers must provide professional and verifiable references
- Every carer must have a clean, valid DBS or PVG
- Carers undergo character and judgement assessments
As seen in
Frequently asked questions
If your loved one has dementia, they’ll get a carer with experience of looking after someone with the condition. We also interview all carers via Zoom to get a real sense of who they are, and they undertake a full background check and must provide at least 2 professional and verifiable references of their work history.
While we’re unable to arrange in-person meetings ahead of the carer arriving, there’s plenty of ways to really get to know them and feel confident in your choice. We’ll send your family a full profile and personal introductory video for each carer so you can learn all about their skills, experience and what other Elder customers think about them. You can also use the chat feature in MyElder to speak to carers directly, or ask to arrange a video call to meet them virtually.
Yes, it’s a requirement for all carers working with us to be able to speak fluent English. If they’re not British nationals, we make sure they have the right skills and experience and are up to the same, rigorous standards we have in the UK.
Yes, we do have customers who use support from their local authority in the form of direct payments. To claim from your local council, start by arranging a care needs assessment with them. After this your loved one’s liquid (that’s not including their property) assets will be assessed. In England, if they have less than £23,250 they’ll be eligible for government support. To find out more about funding, take a look at our resources here.
We understand the importance of continuity for those living with conditions such as dementia. However, the carers we work with are only human, and do require time off. You can expect your family’s primary carer to be with you for around four weeks at a time, usually taking one or two weeks off. During this period, we’ll work with you to choose and arrange for a respite carer to step in.
If the need is urgent, we’re able to put care in place in as little as 24-48 hours, sometimes less – it all depends on your own unique situation.
The carer will need their own bedroom to use for sleeping and as a place to relax when they are taking a break. It is best to provide a television and internet access for them since they will be spending so much time with you. The carer will prepare meals and probably eat with you, so separate dining facilities will not be needed. We’d recommend budgeting £40 per week for the carer’s food. However, if you’d like us to arrange it, we can add it to your weekly payments.
If you or your loved one likes to get out and about and they are well enough to do so, it can be a good idea to supply a car that the live-in carer can use. Having a car to use can also help with shopping trips and transport to appointments or daycare sessions, especially if you’re in an isolated area. Please bear in mind, for carers with cars we do ask for an additional fee. This is passed directly on to the carer.
There are various pieces of nursing equipment you can buy that can make care at home easier.
If you or a loved one spends a lot of time in bed or needs to change position at regular intervals, they may benefit from a hospital bed. In addition to raising and lowering to the optimum position for the carer to work, it will help to get into a comfortable position and sit upright for meals. Hospital beds also have side rails to use if the person is at risk of falling. Extra equipment such as pressure relief mattresses will also minimise the development of pressure sores.
Usually, the district nursing service will advise on the best specialist equipment for providing care at home. They should also be able to organise the supply of these items from NHS stores, although some items may have to be purchased privately.
If you or your family member has mobility issues, it’s worth looking into the various aids that can help – from walking aids such as Zimmer frames to the installation of a stair lift. If unable to stand, you will need a hoist so that the live-in carer can reposition when necessary. Equipment such as a mobile commode is useful for toilet and personal hygiene tasks such as showering.
A live-in carer provides companionship for you or a loved one when family members are unable to be around. They will be chosen on the basis of shared interests and hobbies, as well as for the ability to meet healthcare needs.
In a typical day the carer might play games or share activities such as cooking or gardening. They can also help with getting dressed, and personal hygiene. Put simply, the carer will try to support to ensure you or a loved on can carry on doing the things you enjoy, while minimising risk.
If care is for a loved one, You will be notified of illness or a fall, or anything else that you need to be aware of and the carer will also contact health care professionals such as nurses or doctors if they need to.
No, we can arrange for temporary care and short-term care too. If you usually care for your loved one, but are going on holiday, or just need a bit of time off, live-in care is the perfect cover. Our short-term care service can be arranged for as little as three days at a time.
The carer is on-hand to help. With their usual shift hours around 10-12 hours per day. So you can have the peace of mind of knowing that your loved one is safe and cared for. To provide additional peace of mind, there are many aids available to alert the carer to potential problems.
If your loved one is prone to falls and needs someone with them, a pressure mat placed beside the bed can trigger an alarm that lets the live-in carer know if the person gets up in the night. Similarly, alarms can be installed close to doors so that your loved one cannot wander off without their carer realising.