Retirement Home Beacon
A calm hub about care homes, home care and how to pay for them — every page is assembled from official regulators and public bodies, and always links back to them. Where to verify beats what to choose: no advice, no advertising, just the sourced map.
Who regulates care homes, and where to read the inspections
Open the full country matrix →Tap a country to see its low-emission-zone rules, registration and where you can stay overnight — then drill into the full guide.
Europe 3
North America 2
Oceania 2
Lax / no LEZ Sticker · Euro 4–5 Strict · Euro 6
Glossary
See all →Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is the Australian Government agency responsible for aged care regulation.
Read → glossaryActivities of daily living
Activities of daily living (ADL) are the basic self-care tasks most healthy people can perform without help, including bathing, dressing, toileting, managing continence, transferring and eating.
Read → glossaryAdvance care planning
Advance care planning is a voluntary, person-centred process of discussion between an individual and their care providers about preferences and priorities for future care, usually spanning several conversations over time rather than a single event.
Read → glossaryAide sociale à l'hébergement
Aide sociale à l'hébergement (ASH) is a French département-level financial aid that covers the difference between the accommodation fee charged by an EHPAD, résidence autonomie or USLD and what a resident with insufficient income can pay, provided the facility holds places authorised to receive social aid recipients.
Read → glossaryAllocation personnalisée d'autonomie
Allocation personnalisée d'autonomie (APA) is a French benefit for people aged 60 and over assessed at GIR 1 to 4 loss of autonomy, paid by the conseil départemental either to support home care or to cover part of the dependency tariff in an EHPAD or USLD.
Read → glossaryAssisted living
Assisted living is a US housing option for older adults who need help with tasks such as dressing, bathing, eating and toileting but not the intensive medical care given in a nursing home.
Read → glossaryAttendance Allowance
Attendance Allowance is a UK benefit, not means-tested, for people who have reached State Pension age and have a physical or mental disability, or health condition, severe enough that they need help caring for themselves or supervision for their own or someone else's safety, having needed that help for at least six months.
Read → glossaryCare home
Care home is the umbrella term used in England for residential settings providing accommodation and personal care, such as help with washing, dressing and taking medicines, for people who can no longer manage safely on their own.
Read → glossaryCare Inspectorate (Scotland)
The Care Inspectorate is Scotland's national assurance and improvement support body for social care services and social work.
Read → glossaryCare Inspectorate Wales
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) is the independent regulator of social care and childcare in Wales, registering and inspecting services on behalf of Welsh Ministers under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.
Read → glossaryCare needs assessment
A care needs assessment is a free evaluation, carried out by a local council in England, of how someone manages everyday tasks such as washing, dressing and cooking.
Read → glossaryCare plan
A care and support plan sets out the help a person will receive after a council carries out a needs assessment, whether for someone who needs care or for someone caring for another person.
Read → glossaryContinuing care retirement community
A continuing care retirement community (CCRC) is a US community living arrangement, typically on a single campus, offering housing, health care and social services at several levels, from independent living through assisted living to on-site nursing home care as needs increase.
Read → glossaryCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the US federal agency that created the Five-Star Quality Rating System, used on the Nursing Home Care Compare website to help consumers, families and caregivers compare nursing homes.
Read → glossaryCNSA
Caisse nationale de solidarité pour l'autonomie (CNSA) is the French public body, established in 2004, that finances and steers national policy supporting the autonomy of older and disabled people and their carers.
Read → glossaryCare Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England.
Read → glossaryDementia care
Dementia care describes the support, including in care homes, that a person with dementia needs as symptoms worsen over time.
Read → glossaryExtra care housing
Extra care housing is one form of what is collectively described in England as housing with care, alongside assisted living, retirement villages and very sheltered living.
Read → glossaryHome care
Home care, also called domiciliary care, is paid care provided in a person's own home rather than a care home, ranging from an hour a week to live-in, round-the-clock support, including specialist nursing care in some cases.
Read → glossaryHospital discharge
Hospital discharge covers the process of leaving hospital and the care and support that follows, as organised by the NHS in England.
Read → glossaryImserso
Imserso (Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Sociales) is a Spanish public body managing Social Security's complementary social services for older people and people in situations of dependency.
Read → glossaryIndependent living
Independent living describes a US senior housing model for active adults, typically over 60, who can care for themselves.
Read → glossaryInspection report
An inspection report is CQC's published assessment of a health or social care service in England.
Read → glossaryLasting power of attorney
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document, valid in England and Wales, letting a person (the donor) appoint attorneys to make decisions on their behalf if they lose mental capacity.
Read → glossaryMeans test
A means test (financial assessment) decides whether a local council in England helps pay towards someone's social care, based on income, savings, pensions, certain benefits and property.
Read → glossaryMedicaid
Medicaid is a joint US federal-state program and the nation's primary payer for long-term care services, covering more than 30% of the $597.6 billion spent on long-term services and supports in 2020.
Read → glossaryMedicare
In the United States, Medicare does not pay for long-term care.
Read → glossaryNHS Continuing Healthcare
NHS continuing healthcare (NHS CHC) is free health and social care in England, arranged and funded by the NHS for adults whose needs are primarily health-related.
Read → glossaryNursing home
A nursing home, also called a skilled nursing facility, is a US residential facility offering 24-hour nursing supervision alongside personal care, meals and rehabilitation services such as physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Read → glossaryPalliative care
Palliative care, as defined by the World Health Organization, is an approach that improves quality of life for patients — adults and children — and their families facing a life-threatening illness.
Read → glossaryPersonal care
Personal care is a legally defined regulated activity in England, set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
Read → glossaryRespite care
Respite care lets a carer take a break while the person they look after is cared for by someone else, helping prevent exhaustion.
Read → glossaryRetirement village
In New South Wales, Australia, a retirement village is a form of housing for older residents governed by specific tenancy and contract rules, with rights and obligations set for operators.
Read → glossarySafeguarding
Safeguarding covers protecting adults from abuse and neglect, which the NHS notes can occur anywhere and is usually carried out by someone the person knows and trusts, such as a carer, relative or professional.
Read → glossarySelf-funder
A self-funder in England is someone not entitled to council help with care costs because their savings exceed the upper capital limit (£23,250) or, for a care home move, because they own property.
Read → glossarySheltered housing
Sheltered housing in England usually consists of self-contained flats or bungalows, bought or rented, with an emergency alarm system, a warden living on or near the premises, and communal facilities such as a lounge or laundry — sometimes called warden-assisted accommodation.
Read → glossarySkilled nursing facility
A skilled nursing facility (SNF) is a US facility staffed and equipped to treat, manage and evaluate a patient's condition, typically part of a nursing home or hospital, providing care from doctors, nurses and therapists.
Read → glossaryTop-up fees
Top-up fees (or 'top ups') are additional payments made by a person or a third party in England when someone in local-authority-funded care chooses accommodation more expensive than the authority would normally pay for, where this is judged affordable.
Read →