Aged Care homes in Thailand a growing trend for UK families

With suitable dementia care in the UK often not available or affordable, families have begun sending their loved ones to residential care homes in Thailand according to a recent report in the Guardian.

Researchers visiting Chiang Mai found eight care homes where guests from the UK are now residents.

“I can well understand people choosing this option given the state of anxiety about care in the UK” says Paul Edwards the Director of Clinical Services at Dementia UK, adding that it is a market he can see becoming more popular because of an ailing UK system.

According to Dr Caleb Johnston, a senior lecturer in Human Geography at Newcastle University who spent nine weeks in Thailand visiting residential care homes, “Thailand already has a long history of medical tourism and it’s now setting itself up as an international hub for dementia care”.

Currently there are around 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. Local authority residential care costs up to £700 (AU$1,324) a week, with private care about £1,000 (AU$1,891).

While there are no official staff-to-resident ratios in the UK, both state and private facilities tend to have levels around 1:6 within a sector that has 122,000 job vacancies and annual staff turnover exceeding 30%.

Compare this to Thailand where 1:1 around-the-clock residential care with fully-qualified staff – in award-winning facilities – costs around £750 (AU$1,418) a week. Some homes have three to four staff for every resident.

The homes are a mix of British- run, Swiss-run and Thai-run, but with substantial investment from the UK and all with the support of the Thai Government.

Peter Brown moved to Chiang Mai from the UK and opened a four-star hotel resort 11 years ago. Six years ago after becoming unhappy with the quality of care his mother was receiving in her British aged care home he founded the Care Resort Chiang Mai.

According to Peter the solution should be found at home in the UK but lack of availability and affordable options has encouraged families to look further afield at Thailand where the staff have a strong family culture that respects the elderly and accommodation is more affordable.

He said “the British state does need to do more because the best place for people to be looked after is where they are now”.

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A special thanks to our contributors

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Caroline Egan

DCM Media, agedcare101

Caroline has a wealth of experience writing within the retirement and aged care sector and is a contributing journalist for the Villages.com.au and agedcare101 blog and accompanying newsletters.

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Ian Horswill

Journalist

Ian is a journalist, writer and sub-editor for the aged care sector, working at The DCM Group. He writes for The Weekly Source, agedcare101, villages.com.au and the DCM Institute fortnightly newsletter Friday. Ian is in daily contact with CEOs of retirement living, land lease and the aged care operations and makes a new contact every week. He investigates media releases, LinkedIn and Facebook for a good source for ideas for stories.

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Lauren Broomham

Retirement and Aged Care Journalist

Lauren is a journalist for villages.com.au, agedcare101 and The Donaldson Sisters. Growing up in a big family in small town communities, she has always had a love for the written word, joining her local library at the age of six months. With over eight years' experience in writing and editing, she is a keen follower of news and current affairs with a nose for a good story.

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Jill Donaldson

Physiotherapist

Jill has been practicing as a clinical physiotherapist for 30 years. For the last 13 years she has worked solely in the Aged Care sector in more than 50 metropolitan and regional facilities. Jill has also toured care facilities in the US and Africa and is a passionate advocate for both the residents in aged care and the staff who care for them. She researches and writes for DCM Media.

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Chris Baynes

DCM Media, agedcare101

Chris has been a journalist and publisher in the retirement village and aged care sectors for 11 years. He has visited over 250 retirement villages and 50 aged care facilities both within Australia and internationally. Chris is a regular speaker at industry conferences plus is a frequent radio commentator.

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Annie Donaldson

Nurse and Carer

Annie has a long career in both nursing and the media. She has planned and co-ordinated the medical support from both international TV productions and major stadium events. In recent years she has been a primary family carer plus involved in structured carer support.