Familiar faces, in a familiar place.
Alzheimer’s asks more of a household than almost any other condition. Our carers help families live with it — in the home that already feels like home — for as long as that’s the right place to be.
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Alzheimer’s changes how the day works — not who someone is.
The condition affects memory first, then orientation, then the practicalities of daily life — getting dressed, knowing what time it is, recognising the people around you. The person living with it is still themselves, but the day around them gets harder to navigate alone.
Home care helps because home is the part that doesn’t change. The same rooms, the same chair, the same view from the kitchen window. A familiar carer arriving at the same time each day adds another anchor — one less new thing to make sense of, one more bit of routine that feels safe.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, but it’s not the only one. We also support families through vascular, mixed, frontotemporal and Lewy body dementia.
Quietly, calmly, without fuss.
The work of an Alzheimer’s carer is mostly small and steady — not dramatic. It’s about keeping the day moving in a way that feels safe to the person they’re looking after, not efficient to anyone else.
The shape of the day, kept gently in place.
- Arriving at the same time, with the same warm hello
- Cueing the day — what's next, what time it is
- Prompting and supporting medication
- Encouraging activities that have always brought pleasure
- Gentle reminders without rushing or correcting
- Keeping the home familiar and easy to navigate
The dignity bit, done with patience.
- Help getting washed, bathed or showered
- Dressing, choosing clothes, doing fastenings
- Hair, shaving, oral and denture care
- Toileting and continence support
- Skin care and pressure-area checks
- Done in the way the person prefers, every time
A warm meal, eaten at the right pace, in good company.
- Preparing food they've always liked
- Sitting with them while they eat — not standing watching
- Encouraging eating and drinking enough
- Watching for changes in swallowing
- Conversation, photographs, music, the radio
- Light housework and laundry around it
For the harder moments — agitation, anxiety, late-day confusion.
- Recognising the early signs of distress
- Settling sundowning and evening unease
- Redirecting rather than arguing
- Supporting safe walking and pacing
- Watching for the patterns that lead to falls
- Letting families know what we're seeing
Most families with Alzheimer’s can stay at home longer than they expect.
Care needs almost always grow over time, but they grow at their own pace. These are the points along the way where home care most often helps — though every family’s journey is its own.
For some families there comes a point where home is no longer the safer place. Severe behavioural disturbance that puts the person or those around them at risk, profound disorientation that means home stops feeling familiar, late-stage swallowing or aspiration risk that needs clinical supervision — these are the situations where a specialist nursing home is usually the better answer. We’ll always say so honestly.
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In the months after diagnosis
A few hours of help a week is often enough at first — someone for the morning routine, an extra pair of hands at the harder moments. Light support that takes the edge off, while everyone is still finding their feet.
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Supporting a husband, wife or partner
Most of the day-to-day care of someone with Alzheimer’s falls to a spouse or family member. Regular visits give that person time to look after themselves — the doctor’s appointments, the haircut, the lunch with friends — and protect them from the burnout that comes if they don’t.
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When the days are getting longer
As Alzheimer’s progresses, support needs to cover more of the day. Morning visits become morning and lunchtime, then morning, lunchtime and evening. We add visits gradually, with the same small team, so the rhythm builds rather than disrupts.
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When the nights become hard
Disturbed sleep, sundowning, getting up confused in the middle of the night. Overnight care covers exactly that window, on as many nights as you need.
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For respite, planned in advance
If the family carer needs a week or fortnight away, we can step in — ideally with a carer who has visited before, so the face is familiar. Booking ahead matters with Alzheimer’s; we’ll always try to make a planned break work.
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For the later stages, at home
For families who’d rather not move a loved one into residential care, live-in care offers round-the-clock support in surroundings that already feel familiar. Many of our long-standing Alzheimer’s clients spend the later years of the condition this way.
The same faces, week after week.
With Alzheimer’s, who turns up at the door matters as much as what they do once they’re inside. Three things in particular set our care apart.
Carers who stay.
Our team has been with us for an average of eight years. With Alzheimer’s that continuity isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s most of the work. The carer who knows your loved one’s routine, history and small preferences can do in five minutes what a stranger couldn’t do in an hour.
Trained in-house.
Every carer goes through our own training programme, which covers Alzheimer’s and the wider dementias alongside the other conditions we see most often. We don’t outsource it, and we don’t treat it as a one-off — the team revisits the material as standards evolve.
Care that flexes.
You don’t need to commit to one model now. Most of our Alzheimer’s clients start with a few visits and end up with something different a year or two later. Hourly, overnight, live-in — we do all of it, and adjust as the condition does, with the same small team where possible.
Standard rates, no specialist surcharge.
Alzheimer’s care is priced as standard hourly, overnight or live-in care. We don’t add a surcharge for the condition. Whichever model you start with, the rates on our pricing page are the rates you’ll pay.
- A regular, named carer or live-in team
- Free home assessment and care plan
- No setup fee
- Plan adjusts as the condition does, at the same rates
Throughout the two and a half years that Gardiner’s assisted us with the care of our sister, during the latter stages of Alzheimer’s, our regular carer, who attended throughout, was a great source of comfort to our sister.
What families ask us about Alzheimer’s care.
How do you handle a person who doesn't recognise the carer?
By turning up regularly. The first few visits are often the hardest — the carer is a stranger, and explaining who they are doesn’t help. What helps is the same person arriving at the same time, behaving the same way, day after day. Within a few weeks they’re usually a familiar presence even if the name doesn’t come.
This is exactly why we run a small, regular team rather than rotating new faces in. With Alzheimer’s, continuity isn’t a preference — it’s how the care actually works.
What if my mum refuses care, or gets upset?
It happens, and we expect it. Resistance to personal care — particularly washing, dressing, or anyone touching them — is common with Alzheimer’s and rarely about the carer themselves. We don’t force anything. We slow down, try a different approach, sometimes leave it for a bit and come back.
Our carers are trained to recognise distress early and de-escalate without arguing or correcting. If a particular task is consistently a flashpoint, we’ll talk through what’s working, what isn’t, and adjust the plan with the family.
Can you support someone with later-stage Alzheimer's at home?
In most cases, yes — whether through several visits a day, overnight care, or live-in support. Many of our long-standing clients with Alzheimer’s remain at home through the later stages.
There are situations where home care isn’t the right answer — we’ve set those out honestly above. If we don’t think we can keep someone safe at home, we’ll say so.
What about wandering, sundowning, and disturbed nights?
These are some of the hardest parts of Alzheimer’s for families to manage, and the points at which most families first ask for more support. Our daytime visits can include the early-evening slot when sundowning typically starts, which often makes the difference between a calm night and a difficult one.
For sustained night-time disturbance, overnight care is usually the answer — a carer in the house from bedtime to morning, ready for whatever the night brings.
What's the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of conditions that affect memory, thinking and daily function. Alzheimer’s is the most common type, accounting for about two thirds of cases — but vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia all sit under the same umbrella, and each progresses slightly differently.
Our care covers all of them.
How quickly can care start?
From your first call to a carer at the door, we typically need a minimum of 48 hours. That gives us time to come for a free assessment, agree a care plan with you, and introduce you to the team who’ll be visiting.
We usually operate with a waiting list, we will let you know how long the wait may be when we do the assessment. If the situation is urgent — a sudden hospital discharge, or a carer who’s suddenly become unwell — we’ll do everything we can to start sooner.
Are you regulated, and how can I check?
Yes. Gardiner’s Homecare is registered and regulated by the Care Quality Commission — the body that inspects all home care providers in England. Both our branches are rated Good.
Wondering what kind of help would actually fit?
Five or ten minutes on the phone is often enough to work out whether visiting care, overnight, live-in or something else is what your situation calls for. No script, no pressure — just an honest conversation.
Mon–Fri 7:30am–5pm · Out of hours, leave a message and we’ll call back.
