Choosing a care home for someone with dementia

Look for a care home registered to care for people with dementia, with staff trained in dementia care, a garden residents can use safely, and a daily routine built around each person. Many people with dementia are well looked after in a residential home; a nursing home is the better fit once they also need care from a registered nurse.

What “registered for dementia” means

In England, the Care Quality Commission’s register lists the groups of people each home is registered to support, and dementia is one of them. In Scotland, the Care Inspectorate’s datastore lists each home’s areas of care, which can include dementia. Across both registers, 9,229 homes in our directory are registered for dementia care. You can search them by area.

Registration means a home is allowed to care for people with dementia and is inspected on it. How well it does so is a question for the latest inspection report and your own visit.

What to look for on a visit

The NHS suggests checking these, and they are a good place to start.

• Whether all staff are trained in dementia care, and whether they seem caring.
• Whether there is a full-time activity coordinator who specialises in activities for people with dementia.
• Whether residents can bring their own furnishings, and whether toilets are within easy reach.
• Whether there is a garden where residents can walk safely.
• Whether residents look happy and responsive, and are treated with dignity.
• Whether residents can have visitors whenever they want.
• Whether the home is accredited under the Gold Standards Framework for end of life care.

Watch as well as ask. Notice whether staff get down to eye level and give people time to answer, whether doors, toilets and rooms are easy to tell apart, and whether the lounge is calm or loud. Visit at a mealtime if you can.

Questions to ask the manager

• How many staff on today’s shift have had dementia training, and what did it cover?
• What do staff do when a resident is distressed, calling out or trying to leave?
• How do you learn about each resident’s past, habits and preferences before they move in?
• Can residents keep their own routine, including getting up late or being awake at night?
• Is there a full-time activity coordinator who plans for people with dementia?
• Can residents walk freely, indoors and in a secure garden?
• How do you help residents who forget to eat or drink, or who struggle to swallow?
• How often are each resident’s medicines reviewed, and by whom, especially sedating medicines?
• How do you tell the family about changes, falls or infections, and how quickly?
• Can a resident stay here as their dementia progresses, including at the end of life?
• What would make you decide you could no longer meet someone’s needs?
• Will the same few staff look after my relative most days?

Our guide to choosing a care home has a longer checklist, and what to get in writing about fees and notice before anyone signs.

How needs change as dementia progresses

Dementia gets worse over time, but the speed varies a great deal from person to person and between types of dementia. The NHS says symptoms can develop gradually over many months or years, or sometimes suddenly.

Families often talk about early, middle and later stages. In the later stages, the NHS says, many people become less able to move about unaided, and some need a wheelchair or are cared for in bed. Many have trouble eating or swallowing, which can lead to choking and chest infections. Bladder incontinence is common, and the person is likely to need constant care and attention.

Those are the changes that decide whether a home can keep someone. Ask about them before the move, so a second move is less likely later.

Residential or nursing dementia care

A residential home with dementia-trained staff can suit someone who mainly needs help with daily living, supervision and reassurance. A nursing home is the better fit when the person also has health needs that call for a registered nurse day and night. The needs assessment from the council (in Scotland, the health and social care partnership) should say which.

A home registered for both residential and nursing care, and for dementia, can sometimes keep a resident as their needs grow. Our guide to nursing and residential care explains the difference on the register.

Making the decision

Involve the person with dementia as far as they are able. In England, the NHS says that if they lack the mental capacity to decide, someone with lasting power of attorney can make the decision for them, as long as it is in their best interests. Scotland has its own system of powers of attorney and guardianship, so ask the council or Age Scotland how it applies.

Paying for dementia care

Dementia care homes are paid for in the same way as other care homes, through the council’s means test or by the person themselves. In England, a dementia diagnosis alone does not qualify someone for NHS continuing healthcare, which depends on assessed needs. Someone in a nursing home who needs care from a registered nurse gets NHS-funded nursing care of £267.68 a week (2026-27), paid to the home.

In Scotland, the council pays £260.30 a week towards personal care, and £117.10 towards nursing care where needed (from 1 April 2026), for anyone assessed as needing it. Our guide to paying for a care home explains the rest.