Deciding that home care is the right step forward is rarely easy. For people living with dementia, remaining in familiar surroundings offers deep emotional comfort and a sense of security.
The National Dementia Care Accreditation Scheme (NaDCAS) believes everyone with dementia deserves to feel understood, valued, safe, and connected. Well-known for its work in residential care, NaDCAS supports care providers through its Framework for Exceptional Dementia Care, helping teams reflect on practice, strengthen culture, and improve daily life for those they support.
Building on this foundation, NaDCAS has now launched a dedicated accreditation specifically for home care providers.
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At a glance
- New home care standard: NaDCAS has expanded its Framework for Exceptional Dementia Care to formally accredit home care (domiciliary) providers alongside residential care homes.
- Supportive 6-month journey: Rather than a rigid pass/fail audit, the accreditation is a collaborative, 6-month improvement process built around 9 focus areas, initial reflection, a week-12 assessment, and ongoing revalidation.
- Reassurance for families: Choosing an accredited provider ensures care workers are specifically trained in dementia communication, routines are tailored to the home environment, and standards exceed statutory minimums.
What is NaDCAS home care accreditation?
Home care helps people keep their routines, stay near family, and live in a place they love. However, providing specialist dementia care at home comes with its own challenges.
NaDCAS has adapted its main framework to fit the needs of home care services.
- Evidence-based: Developed with input from research universities, experts, frontline staff, and people with lived experience of dementia.
- Core structure: Based on nine main areas that help teams provide consistent, compassionate, and person-centred care.
- Accessible resources: The main framework is free for all care providers, helping improve quality across the sector.
Why dementia care accreditation matters
Exceptional dementia care changes lives for the person receiving support, their family, teams, and entire organisations. For families comparing dementia home care providers, accreditation can provide another way to understand how a service approaches dementia care, staff development and ongoing improvement.
How the home care accreditation process works
Claire Reading, Director of Partnerships and Operations at NaDCAS, explains: “NaDCAS accreditation is about partnership, not inspection. We work alongside providers to help them reflect honestly on their practice, celebrate what they do well, and make real, lasting improvements. There’s no test or judgement, just a genuine commitment to getting it right for people living with dementia.”
The programme lasts six months and is designed as a collaborative process, not a strict pass-or-fail test. The focus is on long-term improvement:
- Initial reflective call: A first session with a NaDCAS Case Manager to review current practices.
- Embedding practice: Care teams take time to implement updated standards and evidence-based guidance.
- Assessment visit: Around week 12, a visit is held to see how well the team is applying what they’ve learned and how confident they feel.
- Final accreditation and revalidation: After six months, providers receive the accreditation outcome. Ongoing reviews and revalidation help providers maintain and develop their dementia care standards.
Benefits of choosing accredited dementia home care for families
For families comparing dementia home care providers, NaDCAS accreditation can provide an additional quality marker, helping them understand how a service approaches specialist, person-centred dementia care.
It signals that a care home or home care provider goes beyond minimum statutory standards to deliver specialist, person-centred dementia care. Specifically, NaDCAS accreditation provides families with:
- Personalised, person-centred care: Care routines, activities, and communication tailored around the individual’s personal background, preferences, and life story.
- Dementia-trained staff: Care workers receive specialised coaching and education to understand how dementia affects communication and behaviour, learning to respond with patience, empathy, and insight rather than correction.
- Care that works around home life: Dementia home care should take account of the person’s existing routines, surroundings and preferences, helping them remain in a familiar environment while receiving the support they need.
- Focus on emotional wellbeing & dignity: Care goes beyond basic physical needs to support a sense of purpose, emotional security, and social connection.
- Reassurance & trust: Choosing a care setting can be overwhelming; accreditation offers families confidence that an independent body has audited the provider against 140+ rigorous, evidence-based standards.
- Commitment to continuous improvement: Providers undergo structured progress reviews, ongoing staff coaching, and regular re-assessments to ensure high standards are embedded into their daily culture.
Next steps
- Care providers who want to use the free framework or start the accreditation process can sign up at www.nadcas.org/register or book a first consultation with Claire Reading, Director of Partnerships and Operations.
FAQs
Why should families choose an accredited dementia home care provider?
Choosing an accredited provider gives families confidence that the care team does more than meet basic rules. It means care workers are specially trained to understand and respond to dementia communication and behaviour with kindness, daily routines are adjusted to fit the person’s life story and home setting, and the service is dedicated to ongoing staff training and the wellbeing of those they care for.
How does the home care accreditation process work for providers?
The programme is a six-month team effort focused on ongoing improvement rather than a strict pass-or-fail test. It starts with a thoughtful call with a NaDCAS Case Manager, then time to put new standards into practice, a check-up visit around week 12, and a final review. After accreditation, providers have regular check-ins and renewals to maintain quality.
What is NaDCAS home care accreditation?
NaDCAS home care accreditation is a quality standard designed specifically for home and community care providers. Based on the Framework for Exceptional Dementia Care, it assesses and supports home care services in nine key areas to ensure they provide consistent, caring, and evidence-based dementia care.