The AskBart journal
Advice, guides & stories for families.
Clear, jargon-free guidance on choosing care, funding it and supporting someone you love — written by our independent care experts.
Exploring the FAST Scale for Dementia: An Expert Guide In 2025!
The FAST scale tracks how dementia affects daily life, not just memory and thinking. Here's what each of its seven stages means and how families can use it.
Understanding Hospice Care for Alzheimer's Patients - Expert Guide In 2025!
When Alzheimer's reaches its final stages, hospice-style care shifts the focus from treatment to comfort. Here's how it works in the UK, and how to get it.
Understanding Hospice Care for Dementia Patients In 2025!
When dementia reaches its final stages, hospice and palliative care can bring comfort to your loved one and real support to you. Here's how it works in the UK.
How Care Funding Differs Across the UK (2026)
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each fund care differently — from free personal care to different capital limits. Here's what changes where you live.
Using Your Home to Pay for Care: Equity Release & the Alternatives
The ways a property can help pay for care — selling, renting, a deferred payment agreement, equity release or a care fees annuity — and the pros and cons of each.
Who Pays for Care Home Fees? A Plain-English Guide (2026)
The three ways care home fees get paid — self-funding, council funding and the NHS — and how to work out which applies to you.
How Much Does a Care Home Cost in the UK? (2026)
What care homes really cost in 2026, why prices vary so much, and the funding help that could bring the bill down.
Benefits You Can Claim in a Care Home (2026)
The benefits that can help with care home costs — including Attendance Allowance — and how moving into care affects them.
Care Home Top-Up Fees, Explained (2026)
What third-party top-up fees are, when they’re allowed, and when a care home top-up is unlawful.
The Care Home Means Test, Explained (2026)
How the local authority financial assessment works, the £23,250 and £14,250 thresholds, and what counts as your money.
What Happens When Your Savings Run Out in a Care Home? (2026)
How care funding changes as your savings fall toward £23,250 — the 12-week disregard, council rates and top-ups.
Deferred Payment Agreements: Using Your Home to Pay for Care (2026)
How a Deferred Payment Agreement lets you use your home’s value to pay for care without selling it straight away.