guides

information for older people

Counsel and Care is very proud of its wide range of user-friendly guides. They are very popular with our enquirers, because they are clear and straightforward, and directly relevant to older people, their families and carers. The guides cover a wide range of topics which affect older people, including information about community care and benefits; care at home and housing with care; health problems and hospital episodes; choosing and paying for care in a care home; carers' needs; staying independent in your own home; and accessing independent advocacy.

All of our guides are updated every April to reflect changes in benefits; and throughout the year to reflect changes to legislation or policy relevant to older people.
We continue to create new guides in response to the enquiries we receive through our advice service. We recently launched seven new guides on preparing for death and serious illness in response to the issues that came up on the advice service.

The guides are available to download free of charge. If you can't find the guide you are looking for, try entering the key words into the search engine on this page.Guides can also be ordered by calling our guide order line number, 020 7241 8522 and leaving your name and address, saying which guide you would like to receive. You can download a copy of our guide order form here.

scotland and wales

For people who live in Scotland or Wales, we have developed specific guides for some topics where legislation and policy are very different to England. Click here to view our guides tailored specifically for Scotland and for Wales. All of the other guides are relevant for both England, Wales and Scotland. You can download copies of our guides order form for Scotland here, and for Wales here.

new factsheets

We have recently developed a range of 14 factsheets to complement the information and advice given in our guide to paying care home fees. The new factsheets provide further detailed information on the legislation regarding deprivation of capital and treatment of property. Click here to view the full range.