At what point should someone with dementia go into care?

None of this points to one stage on the seven stages of dementia scale, and dementia does not move on a schedule. What matters is what is true for your relative this month, not the label attached to it. If you are trying to work out whether a change is the illness moving on or something else, read signs that dementia is getting worse before you decide anything, because a urine infection, dehydration or a new medicine can look exactly like a sudden decline and is often treatable.

Most families move down this table gradually over months or years, adding a little more help each time their relative's needs change, rather than landing in the right row on the first attempt. If your relative is already at the higher levels, care at home or a care home sets the two out side by side in more detail, and is live-in care cheaper than a care home? does the same for the money on its own. Some families choose a care home for company and structure even where the cost is similar; others choose to stay at home for the familiarity of the house and the chance of one consistent carer rather than a changing team. Both are reasonable, and the right answer depends on the house, the money, and what your relative wants.

Mental capacity, the Mental Capacity Act and DoLS explained goes into how a capacity assessment works and what a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards authorisation covers. Can an elderly person be forced into care in the UK? covers the legal position in more depth, and solicitors' fees for a deputyship application sets out what applying to the Court of Protection costs and how long it takes.

Attendance Allowance is not means-tested and helps pay towards either route. Local authority funding follows a care needs assessment and a means test, with the same capital limits, over £23,250 in savings and your relative pays in full, whatever the setting. NHS Continuing Healthcare is not means-tested either and, where the need has become health as much as daily living, can fund the whole package, including live-in care at home or a nursing home place. The different types of care funding explains how the three fit together, local authority funding covers the needs assessment and the means test in detail, and NHS Continuing Healthcare explains who qualifies and how to ask for an assessment.

1. 1

   Write down what has changed

   This week

   Use the checklist above, and note what has changed in the last month rather than since diagnosis. Take the list to the GP or memory clinic, because a sudden change is often something treatable rather than the dementia moving on.
2. 2

   Ask for a care needs assessment

   Free

   From the council, whatever your relative’s savings. It sets out in writing what they need, and it is the first step toward funding either route. Ask for a carer’s assessment for yourself at the same time.
3. 3

   Look at both routes properly

   A week or two

   Search carers near your relative and see their rates, reviews and dementia experience. If a care home is on the table too, visit two or three in person rather than choosing from a website. Neither decision should be made from a single visit or a single search.
4. 4

   Choose, and know it can change

   Whenever you are ready

   Start with what fits today. Hours at home can go up gradually as needs grow, and a respite stay in a care home is a way to test it before a permanent move. Every carer on PrimeCarers has interviewed online, and their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS on the Update Service are checked before they appear, and they are insured while they work.

If what is needed right now is a short break for you, rather than a permanent move for your relative, when to consider respite care is worth reading before you decide anything bigger.