New care home website invites you to turn on, tune in, drop by

Bettercaring has announced the re-launch of bettercaring.com, a unique consumer website that combines a comprehensive care home directory with stories, tips and an online discussion forum. The new-look Bettercaring aims to build a community where carers, care home residents and care home professionals can engage with one another for the first time.

Social care is probably the biggest single issue facing Britain today. In the past 10 years, the number of people over 75 years old has grown by 20% to 4.7 million and this is expected to increase by 65% by 2031.

And the costs are breath-taking. Long-term care for the over 65s has been estimated at £42 billion a year, while informal carers are currently saving the government £87 billion by caring for their loved ones at home.

The upshot of all this is that people will need information to make informed choices – and Bettercaring is best placed to provide that. Often those looking for care have little, if any, knowledge of the care sector – and again Bettercaring can provide that.

With Bettercaring you get a comprehensive care home search engine giving consumers information on 20,000 UK care homes. In our care information section there is a guide for people who need help choosing specific types of care – from care at home and respite care, to sheltered accommodation and private nursing homes. This section also explains details of financing options and has a section on health issues affecting the elderly.

Elsewhere, in our care discussion section, users can join the public forum where carers, residents and professionals speak out on caring issues, from dementia to care home funding. This section includes true stories of people who care for loved ones, reviews of care homes and products and interviews with care home managers.

James Marsland, managing director of Bettercaring says: “It was crucial to re-launch www.bettercaring.com as a community-based consumer site, giving people an independent source of care home information.

“With 500,000 unique visitors already using Bettercaring, it was also vital to engage with people to help them understand some of the issues involved. And with this in mind, we decided to introduce articles about carers, health and reviews of care homes.

“The idea is to make life as easy as possible for people during a time that is often traumatic and fraught with worries. I sincerely believe Bettercaring has achieved that.”