Choosing a care home is rarely a decision one person makes alone, and it's rarely made at a calm moment. For providers, that raises a practical question: how well do we understand the families coming to us for help?
Labour’s plans for a phased National Care Service in England, including free personal care for older people, have renewed the debate about how care is funded and delivered.[1] At the Labour conference, SCIE and the Centre for Care also highlighted the importance of choice, and of listening to people who draw on care, their families and carers.[2]
Their circumstances can look very different. Some families have time to explore their options and visit several homes. Others need to find care quickly, while trying to make sense of a system that may be completely unfamiliar. carehome.co.uk’s 2025 report found that 52% of people enquiring through its platform needed care within a month, and 16% within a week.[3] For a relative, that enquiry may also carry the weight of a decision that will change daily life for someone they love.
A useful customer profile goes beyond age or background. It should help us understand what prompted the search, who’s involved, and what information would help them take the next step. That’s what allows providers to offer support that genuinely fits each family’s circumstances.
It’s worth remembering, too, that the person doing the research isn’t always the person who will live with the decision. A family member might be comparing homes and speaking to care professionals, while the future resident is thinking about what a move would mean for their everyday life. Their wishes need to stay central throughout.
We’ve seen this first-hand in our work with Care UK on customer understanding and segmentation, helping their teams put that understanding into practice. Good insight must help people right across an organisation make clearer, more thoughtful decisions.
In practice, that might mean checking whether families understand which costs are included and what might be charged separately, something that matters even more as funding rules change. It might mean testing whether the information shared before a visit helps people judge whether a home is right for them, or asking whose voice is missing from the conversation. Well-built personas help teams recognise different circumstances and ask better questions, while leaving room for each family’s own story.
The real test is whether that understanding shapes what happens day to day. Marketing teams can make information easier to find and understand. Admissions teams can shape conversations around what matters most to the people asking for help. Home managers can help make sure the experience families encounter matches what they were told.
The National Care Service will take time to build, and funding and workforce support will shape what providers can offer. But providers don’t need to wait to help families. Clearer information, and conversations that give people space to ask their questions, can make a difference now.
[1] Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Andy Burnham sets out plans for a new National Care Service, 29 September 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-andy-burnham-sets-out-plans-for-a-new-national-care-service
[2] SCIE and Centre for Care, report of the Labour conference discussion, 28 September 2026. https://www.scie.org.uk/news/care-equity-must-be-at-heart-of-social-care-reform-labour-conference-panel-hears/
[3] carehome.co.uk, Ageing Britain: How demand for care homes is changing, December 2025. https://www.carehome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Ageing-Britain-How-demand-for-care-homes-is-changing-report-1.pdf