What is social care?
Adult social care is an invaluable sector, made up of various different areas and professions. It responds to a wide range of needs - from a young adult with a learning disability who needs assistance with daily tasks to an elderly person with dementia who needs emotional support as well as personal care. It helps people to live as independently as possible, protects people from harm in vulnerable situations and offers essential support in times of need. Individuals need the maximum degree of choice on how their care is delivered, they need to be able to choose how they live their life. It is about working with people in communities to ensure that they become more resilient and self-sustaining.
No adult has the same needs when it comes to care, so this means various services and provisions work together to ensure individuals receive the level of care they need to meet their personal circumstances. There are a variety of different care settings out there, Take a look at the breakdown below to see examples of social care settings:
A residential care home is a setting where vulnerable adults reside full-time and receive ongoing support and care. There are various types of residential care homes available which cater for different individual needs, these include:
- elderly care
- dementia homes
- end of life care
- nursing homes
An assisted living setting caters for those who are becoming less able to do everything for themselves in their own homes, so move into assisted accommodation where they receive additional support according to their personal needs. These settings offer individual home environments for residents, giving it a community feel. They can come in various forms including blocks of flats, bungalow estates and retirement villages.
This aspect of care involves working across the community in people’s homes. It could be for short periods of time, supporting people who have undergone periods of illness or had an accident, or for long periods of time, supporting people who require ongoing care and support but prefer to remain in their homes rather than moving to a residential care setting.
These types of settings offer part-time care facilities to adults. They are often designed for adults with learning disabilities to offer them additional support and respite to their families and full-time carers. Service users can sometimes spend the night at these settings but not on a full-time basis.