Even if you are currently managing well with caring for your friend or relative, it is always a good idea to plan for the future when you may need some extra support.
This could be because the person you care for has a condition that you expect to get worse or flare up in the future, meaning you will need some extra help with caring for them.
Or you may anticipate not always being able to care for them in the way you currently are. This could be because you foresee a change in your circumstances such as moving away or increasing your commitments in other areas of your life, for instance having children or grandchildren. Or you could be looking to plan for what will happen when you get older, your own health deteriorates or you pass away.
Whatever the reason for needing more support in the future, we provide information and advice to help you plan the next stage. Below we cover some general tips around planning for future care needs.
What is future care planning?
Future care planning, sometimes also known as anticipatory care planning, is the process of documenting the preferred actions, interventions and responses that need to happen should you no longer be able to provide your current level of care for your friend or family member.
Do I really need to plan for my friend or relative’s future care?
It is absolutely vital that you take the time to plan for your friend or relative’s future care. Without plans in place, they may be left without the facilities that you would like them to have, gaps in their care provision or without any adequate care at all.
We recognise that making these plans can be easier said than done though. It can be really hard to think about what will happen to your friend of relative in the future if their condition deteriorates and their care needs increase. It can also be difficult to imagine a situation where you are less able to support them, for instance due to your own ill health, or where you are no longer around. This can often lead people to avoid making future care plans.
Even though thinking about this topic may be difficult, the alternative if you don’t plan ahead might be much worse. The person you care for could end up being left in the lurch with no continuity of care, not knowing what will happen to them, and with important decisions having to be made at the last minute. This would cause lots of unnecessary stress for everyone involved, and in particular for the person you care for.
You may even end up feeling a great sense of relief once you have made sure plans are in place. It may be something that is playing on your mind, or something that the person you care for and their other friends and family are worried about. It will therefore likely bring you all some comfort and peace of mind to know you have everything arranged. And you may also feel reassured to know that, even when you are no longer so heavily involved, you have still had a hand in looking after your friend or relative by making plans for their care. It’s a way you can keep caring for them, long into the future.
When should I start planning for my friend or relative’s future care?
It is never too early to begin the process of future care planning, even if you don’t anticipate needing these plans anytime soon. The person you care for’s condition may deteriorate quicker than expected, or something may happen out of the blue which means you need these plans sooner than you had thought. And sometimes it can just take a while to make all the necessary arrangements.
It is crucial that you get plans in place before it is too late, so don’t put it off. Begin the planning process now and it is likely that everything will go much more smoothly in the future.
How do I go about making plans for my friend or relative’s future care?
Even when you have decided to start planning for your friend or relative’s future care, it can sometimes be hard to know where to begin and what you need to do to make sure everything is planned for properly.
To help, we have put together a list of steps you could follow below, to make sure the right future care plans are put in place.
A good first step is to think about exactly what kind of care and support your friend or relative is likely to need in the future, so you have an idea of the type of care provider that will be required.
You could begin by making a list of all the types of care and support you currently provide. This will help you to know what would need to be covered if you are unable to care for them in the future.
You should also consider what might change with their condition, and the adaptations to their care that this would require. It is important to try and plan as far into the future as possible with this. So rather than just planning for the immediate next step in their care, plan for the step after that and the step after that too, if relevant.
You could also consider if there are any additional types of care or support you currently don’t provide but that they may find beneficial to have, if their care was to change.
There are a range of different options for how your friend or relative could be looked after in the future. In particular, you need to consider where they will live, how their medical needs will be met and how they will be cared for on a day-to-day basis.
The greatest continuity of care is likely to come from them continuing to be looked after by informal, unpaid carers. Think about if there are any of their other relatives, friends or even neighbours who could take over from you or assist you if you need more help. Perhaps there is nobody individually who is able to do everything required, but a combination of two or three people together could potentially have the capacity to meet your friend or relative’s needs.
If there are no informal carers who would be able to take over from you or assist you with this care, then you will need to consider paid care options. The local authority is a good place to turn to for further information about these. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a duty to provide information and advice to help you make choices about care, at a time when you need it. This should include general information about how the system operates, alongside personalised advice about the specific care that would be appropriate for your friend or relative. Speak to your local council directly to ask for their help. If you don’t know which local authority you come under, you can find out on the GOV.UK website. If you live in a different area to the person you care for, it will be their council that you need to contact, so use their address details when identifying the local authority.
If your friend or relative is likely to need paid care in the future, it is a good idea to meet some care providers in person. This will give you the opportunity to talk to some of their staff, look at the facilities and equipment available and just see whether it feels like the right fit for your friend or relative. This can really help you to make a decision you feel happy with.
When you visit, you may want to bring along a list of questions you’ve prepared in advance to make sure you cover everything you want to know. You may also have other questions that occur to you when you are there too. Bring a pen and paper so you can make a note of the answers, as it can be easy to forget the details afterwards, especially if you visit a number of providers.
It is important that your friend or relative is as involved as possible in all the decisions that need to be made about their future care. Ensuring that their wants and needs are met should be at the heart of these plans. They probably already have opinions about what they think would be best for them, so it is crucial they feel these are taken into consideration.
They may well find it an upsetting topic to talk about though. The good thing is, if you are planning far enough in advance, you can take these conversations at a slower pace to suit you both. Here are our tips for ensuring that these sometimes tricky discussions go as smoothly as possible:
- Choose a place where you both feel comfortable, you will not interrupted or rushed and you can talk openly.
- Let them take the lead, but try and keep the conversation on topic as much as possible.
- Listen to everything they have to say and how they feel about the options that might be available.
- Don’t assume you know what they will want, as they may surprise you.
- Try to be calm, patient and respectful of their wishes.
- Acknowledge and empathise with any concerns or worries they raise.
- You may want to tell them that you find it a challenging or upsetting conversation too, whilst still remaining positive about the planning process.
- It can sometimes help to repeat what they say back to them in your own words, to not only show you are listening but to make sure you have fully understood what they are trying to express.
- It can help to make a note of what they have said straight after the conversation, so that you don’t forget anything important.
- Try to avoid making them any promises about what will happen or not happen, as some things will be outside of your control.
It is also a good idea to involve their other family and friends in the discussions too. That way everyone can buy in to the final plans and it is less likely there will be arguments further down the line. The person you care for may have their own opinions about who they would or wouldn’t like to be involved in these discussions as well, which you can bear in mind.
Discussing this topic with other people who also care about your friend or relative is not always easy though. Not only is it potentially a really emotionally-charged subject, but there may also be a wide range of conflicting opinions about what the best options are. It can be hard to reconcile all of these and make a final collective decision. This shouldn’t be a reason to put off having conversations about future care planning though. These challenges will still be there later down the line but with the added stress of needing to make the decisions quickly.
It is also a good idea to involve the person you care for’s medical team and social workers in the discussions too. They can advise you about what would be best for the person you care for’s condition, but also what financial support is available to help fund their care. This should ensure that all of the options considered are ones that are appropriate for the person you care for.
After looking into the options available, visiting a few care providers in person and discussing it all with the relevant people, you need to make some decisions. You should try to decide not just in general what care option you would like to pick (i.e. a care home) but also ideally which specific provider(s) would be your preference.
It could be worth selecting a shortlist of options, for instance, your top three care homes ranked in preference order. This means that if your friend or relative needs to access this care quickly, but your preferred provider doesn’t have the capacity available at that point, you have other options that you have researched and are also happy with.
Once you have got an idea of what you would like to happen, it is important that you write all of it down so that you capture all your hard work, research and discussions in one place. This is known as a future care plan.
You may want to make sure that this plan includes details not just about what care you have selected for your friend or relative, but also the circumstances in which these plans will come into place. This could be when they reach a certain level of care need, or it could be when you or their other informal carers are unable to support them.
It is also important the plan is stored somewhere safe and where it is easily accessible to anybody who will need it in the future.
Once your plans are in place, it is crucial that they are shared with all the relevant people. This includes the person you care for, to check that it meets all of their wishes and preferences. It also includes their other carers, friends and family, as well as their full medical team. This will help ensure that the plans are used and acted upon when the time comes.
It is wise to regularly revisit the plan you have made, in case any circumstances have changed. Think of it as a dynamic, evolving plan that can be adapted if needed.
You need to check that you would still be happy with the plans and that they are still suitable for the needs of the person you care for. It is important to make sure that their medical condition hasn’t changed to the extent that these services would no longer be appropriate, for instance if they develop a new additional condition or deteriorate in unexpected ways. It may also be the case that their wishes, preferences and priorities have changed over time, so it also a good idea to check in with them and make sure they are still happy with all the choices made.
It is also a good idea to check that the services you selected still exist, and that there haven’t been any significant changes to them that might alter your view on them. These could include being taken over by new management, a change in staffing, a new CQC report or a different pricing structure.
Further advice
Alongside making a future care plan, it is also important that you make plans in case of emergencies. These provide the immediate information needed for your friend or relative to be looked after temporarily and with little notice. You might find it helpful to make your emergency plans at the same time as your future care plans, as there is likely to be some overlap between them. To find out more, take a look at our guide ‘Planning for emergencies as a carer’.
If the person you care for has a terminal or life-limiting illness, planning for their future may look a little different. Take a look at our guide ‘How can I help someone who is near the end of their life?’ for further advice about this specific type of future planning.
Online Help and Advice
Visit our online support section where we have provided advice and guidance on a range of relevant topics to help you in your caring role.