There will always be staff there to help.

The service user can decorate their room to make them feel at home

Regular, nutritious meals

The social aspect – many in care homes bond with others who live or work there

Medication supervision

No household bills or maintenance worries

4/5 social care services in England were rated as good or outstanding overall

The NHS will pay for your care if you're unable

50% of older people admitted to hospital from care homes are at risk of malnutrition

40% of older people in care homes suffer from depression

37% of care homes failed on safety

4,699 nursing homes and 6,023 UK residential homes are without nursing

Care homes can cost anything between £500 and £1000 per week

Prisoners over 60 years old have tripled in the last 15 years

There are reports of “inhumane” treatment for some older prisoners

40% of prison governors say that prison social care is poor or below average

“My biggest fear was getting dementia in prison. They don't know what to do about prisoners with dementia."

Often, people compare life in a care home to life in prison but what do the facts say?RELATED: Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People's Services , these facts dopaint the full picture. The reason that there are a lot of care homes without nursing is that nursing may not be needed in those specific homes. Indeed, nursing is a specialised service offered by certain homes. Depression is also common in care homes due to dementia and other illnesses. And residents may be malnourished often because of that reason - combined with the fact that the elderly avoid eating. Many families, residents (and doctors for that matter) don't want a PEG feed, so people lose weight. Despite some belief, 50% aren't malnourished because they are being neglected. Clearly, the social care crisis is serious though and funding problems have created wider issues regarding how many carers there are and what facilities they can get. And elderly people who have over £21,000 (or own a property) must pay for care homes out of their own pocket. Yet, if you're a convicted criminal, you will get care for free. Does this make life in prison better for the elderly? From the facts about to follow, I would say,RELATED: Level 2 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) The Care Act 2014 states that councils must assess and meet the social care needs of adults in prison.One former inmate Tony Ignacio , who is now 65, said, “My biggest fear was getting dementia in prison. They don't know what to do about prisoners with dementia.“They're not trained to recognise it, so you get punished because they think you're playing up. I knew an older prisoner who got dementia. “He would come out of his cell naked and chuck his food around. He was punished – he spent months in seclusion, on and off, before they finally realised.” So... despite some downfalls of UK care homes, whenever people say that care in prison is better – it's fair to say they are wrong. Life in a care home is often the best thing for many of the elderly and it is nothing like being in prison.