Mental health support at home
Practical, steady support at home for adults living with a mental health condition, alongside the GP and mental health team. The person chooses who supports them.
What support at home looks like
Support at home helps an adult living with a condition such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia keep the everyday things going, especially on the harder days. It is practical help and steady company, not therapy.
What a carer does in an ordinary week
- Helps give some shape to the day
- Encourages getting out of the house, at the person's pace
- Reminds the person to take medication, and records it
- Gets them to appointments
- Helps with the post, bills and keeping the home or tenancy going
- Shopping and cooking together
- Company on the bad days, and noticing when things are slipping
What a carer does not do
Carers don't diagnose, change medication, give therapy or provide crisis care. The GP, the community mental health team and the crisis team do that. If the person has a care plan or a crisis plan, the carer follows it.
In a crisis
Where to get urgent help
If the person has a crisis plan, use it. In England, for urgent help call 111 and select the mental health option, or use 111 online. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone's life is at risk (NHS). Elsewhere in the UK, use your local NHS urgent help line. Carers are not a crisis service.
Mind has information and support for people with mental health problems and their families.
Which care fits
Hourly visits at regular times suit most people, because a steady routine and a familiar face help. Companionship care helps with loneliness, and live-in care suits someone who needs support through the day.
Help paying for care
- Personal Independence Payment: for people aged 16 or over with difficulty with everyday tasks or getting around, usually under State Pension age for a new claim, and not affected by income or savings (Adult Disability Payment in Scotland)
- Attendance Allowance: for people over State Pension age who need help, not means-tested
- Council funding: after a free needs assessment and a means test
- Direct payments: council money you can use to arrange your own care
- NHS Continuing Healthcare: when needs are mainly health needs
- Access to Work: a grant towards practical support at work, such as a support worker or job coach
Rates and rules checked against GOV.UK and the NHS in October 2026. Benefit rates usually change each April.
Tell us about them
The diagnosis, how they are now, routines, and what matters to them.
See matched profiles
Profiles say what experience each carer has, so you can choose with care.
Speak first
Talk to carers by phone or video call before you agree to anything.
Care starts
You and your carer agree the routine, and change it as needs change.
How carers are checked
Before LCH Care introduces a carer, we check their identity, right to work in the UK, Enhanced DBS, two references, work history, and relevant training or qualifications. Carers also hold their own public liability insurance. You then speak to the carer by phone or video call before you agree to anything.
Other conditions
- Dementia care
- Parkinson's care
- Stroke care
- Palliative and end of life care
- Multiple sclerosis care
- Motor neurone disease care
- Cancer care
- Brain injury care
- Spinal cord injury care
- Cerebral palsy care
- Muscular dystrophy care
- Diabetes care
- Heart disease care
- COPD care
- Arthritis and osteoporosis care
- Sight loss care
- Learning disability support
- All conditions
Questions
Can a carer help with depression?
A carer can help with the everyday things that get hard, such as meals, appointments and getting out, and offer steady company. Treatment comes from the GP and mental health team.
Can carers give medication?
Carers can remind and record. Any change to medication comes from the GP or mental health team.
What happens in a crisis?
Follow the crisis plan if there is one. In England, call 111 and choose the mental health option. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone's life is at risk.