Skip to Navigation , Content. There are two distinct types of care β one type is medical or personal care, and the other type is companion care. In this article, we explain what the difference is, what it is that Senior Help offers, and why what we do is unique. When people talk about elderly care, what they are often referring to is something called medical care or personal care.
This is usually provided by care companies on behalf of local councils, and involves services such as measuring out and helping to give medication, bathing, dressing and helping someone to go to the toilet. This is skilled medical care, and providers of this type of care need to have the appropriate medical and caring qualifications. However, not all types of care involve administering medication or helping people in the bathroom.
There is another side to care as well that is not personal or medical care, but is instead companion care, and this is the service that Senior Help offer. Companion care is non-medical and is not as intrusive and personal as bathing, dressing or helping someone to go to the toilet. It might be something as simple as going to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy, taking someone to a doctor or hospital appointment, or joining in with a hobby.
It could even mean accompanying someone on a trip or on travels, perhaps to see distant family members or friends, or to visit a part of the country or world that someone has always wanted to visit but never got round to. It might just mean doing some simple chores, such as some light hoovering, washing up, making the beds, watering the plants or ironing. Companion care and medical care is generally placed together into one service, and if you want just companion care it will usually be provided by someone who is qualified to provide medical and personal care, such as a qualified nurse, and you will therefore pay the same price to receive this level of care as you would to receive medical care.
Why is this you might ask? After all, companion care is a much more pleasant job than medical care, not having to bath people, help them go to the toilet or handle medication. All of this is of course true, but of course if someone is qualified to provide medical care, they are going to charge the same rate even if you just want companion care, because it is taking them away from a job that they could charge more for.
