Jamie Shie

Communications and Marketing Lead

Getting care in place

Live-in care for a loved one with sight or hearing loss

Losing some of your sight or hearing is one of the more common parts of growing older, and one of the more isolating. It can make everyday life harder, quietly chip away at confidence and independence, and leave a person feeling cut off from the world and the people around

Getting care in place

Live-in care for multi-generational and multicultural households

Every household is different, and some are especially rich and full: homes where several generations live together under one roof, and homes where a particular culture, faith and heritage shape the rhythm of daily life. When an older member of such a household needs care, families understandably want that care

Starting the conversation

Grandparents raising grandchildren while managing their own care needs

Across the country, a great many grandparents are raising their grandchildren. Sometimes it happens gradually, sometimes overnight, and it is almost always an act of extraordinary love, stepping in so that a child can stay within their family, and be safe and loved. It is also, quite often, extremely hard.

Safety, health and wellbeing

Sleep problems in older adults: causes and home-based solutions

A bad night's sleep is miserable at any age. In later life, it can be more than that. Poor sleep drains energy and lifts anxiety, but it also raises the risk of falls, clouds memory and concentration, lowers mood, and makes existing health problems harder to manage. And

Hospital and care transitions

Rehabilitation care at home: support for recovery after hospital

Coming home from hospital is a moment of relief, but it is rarely the end of the story. Whether after a hip replacement, a stroke, a fall or a serious illness, most people leave hospital with a recovery plan to follow: exercises from the physiotherapist, mobility goals, new medication, perhaps

Safety, health and wellbeing

Companionship as care: why loneliness is a health issue too

When families think about care, they usually think about the practical things: help with washing and dressing, medication, meals, mobility, safety. All of it matters enormously. But there is another part of care that is easy to underestimate, and it may be just as important to your loved one'

Getting care in place

Live-in care in rural areas vs cities: what's different?

Where someone lives shapes their daily life, and it shapes their care too. A cottage down a country lane and a flat in the middle of a city present quite different circumstances, and it is natural to wonder how live-in care works in each. The reassuring headline is that

Starting the conversation

When your parent doesn't want a "stranger" in the house

"I don't want a stranger in my house." If you have heard this from a parent, you are in very good company. It is one of the most common objections families come up against, and it can feel like a brick wall. You know they need

Starting the conversation

When both parents need care at the same time

It is a situation many families eventually face, and it can feel especially daunting: not one parent needing support, but both. Perhaps their health has declined together, or perhaps one has been quietly propping up the other for years, and now neither can manage alone. Alongside the practical worries comes

Life with a live-in carer

What happens if your live-in carer is unwell or needs cover?

It is a very reasonable thing to wonder. Your loved one comes to depend on their live-in carer, day and night, so what happens if that carer suddenly falls ill, has an emergency, or simply needs their time off? Is your loved one left without support? Does it fall

Getting care in place

Live-in care for younger adults with disabilities or chronic illness

When people picture live-in care, they often imagine an older person. But live-in care is not only for the elderly. For younger adults living with a disability or a long-term illness, it can be the key to something incredibly important: living life fully and independently, on their

Safety, health and wellbeing

Dehydration in older adults: a commonly missed risk at home

Of all the risks facing an older person living at home, dehydration is one of the most common, one of the most serious, and one of the easiest to miss entirely. It rarely announces itself. It creeps up quietly, and by the time it becomes obvious, real harm may already

Safety, health and wellbeing

UTIs and sudden confusion in older adults: why it is often mistaken for dementia

It is a scene that plays out in families all the time. A parent who was perfectly sharp last week is suddenly muddled. They do not know what day it is. They seem agitated, or unusually drowsy. They say things that make no sense, or seem not to recognise where

Starting the conversation

Live-in care explained: how it compares to a nanny or au pair

If you have never come across live-in care before, it can be a hard thing to picture. Someone comes to live in my parent's house? How does that even work? Where do they sleep? What do they do all day? Is it not terribly intrusive? Many families

Life with a live-in carer

Keeping a parent's routines and rituals alive

Every life has its rhythms. The crossword with the second cup of tea. The radio on at the same hour each morning. Church on Sunday, and the same pew for forty years. The Friday fish supper. The garden, tended in the same order, season after season. The bridge club on

Life with a live-in carer

Keeping elderly relatives socially connected over the holidays

The holidays are meant to be the warmest time of the year. For many older people, they are also the loneliest. It is one of the quiet paradoxes of the season. While the world fills with gatherings and celebration, an older person alone at home can feel that contrast more

Life with a live-in carer

Helping a parent stay engaged in their community with live-in support

There is a quiet assumption that when a person needs care, their world naturally shrinks. That they will stay indoors, see fewer people, and gradually drift out of the life they used to lead. It does not have to be that way, and it should not be. With the right

Starting the conversation

Is live-in care only for dementia? Clearing up a common assumption

There is a belief we come across a great deal, and it stops many families from getting help they could really use. It goes something like this: live-in care is for people with dementia, or for those with very advanced needs, so it is not for us. Not yet,

Life with a live-in carer

Pets and live-in care: keeping the whole household comfortable

For a great many older people, a pet is not a detail of daily life. It is daily life. A dog that gets them up and out each morning. A cat that settles on their lap every evening. A companion who is always pleased to see them, who fills a

Safety, health and wellbeing

Winter safety for older adults

Winter has its own quiet beauty, but for older adults the colder months bring some very real risks. Cold weather is harder on the ageing body than many people realise, and it comes bundled with slippery pavements, dark afternoons, and the seasonal bugs that tend to hit older people hardest.

Safety, health and wellbeing

Long-distance caregiving: staying involved when you live far away

Caring for a loved one when you live far away, in another city, or even another country, comes with its own particular ache. There is the worry of not being there, the guilt that quietly follows you around, and the frustrating sense of being out of the loop, never quite

Life with a live-in carer

A day in the life with a live-in carer

When you are considering live-in care for someone you love, one of the hardest things is simply picturing it. What would daily life actually look like? Would it feel clinical, or regimented, or as though a stranger had taken over the home? For most families, the reality turns out

Safety, health and wellbeing

Heatwave safety for older adults

When the summer sun arrives, it is tempting to think of hot weather as nothing but a treat. But for older adults, a heatwave can be genuinely dangerous. Our bodies become less able to cope with heat as we age, and every summer, hot spells pose real risks to older

Starting the conversation

Balancing your own life while caring for an ageing parent

Caring for an ageing parent is one of the most loving things a person can do. It can also be one of the most demanding. If you are trying to hold down a job, look after your own family, run a household, and be there for your parent all at

Starting the conversation

What to do when a parent refuses care

It is one of the hardest situations a family can face. You can see, clearly and worryingly, that a parent needs some help, and yet they simply will not accept it. It is painful, it can be frustrating, and it often leaves you feeling helpless. If this is you, please