Home Care in
Sri Lanka
for Dubai Families.
Home care in Sri Lanka for Dubai families exists because a four-hour flight solves nothing you actually need solved. There are direct services to Colombo most days, and none of them help on a Tuesday when your mother cannot manage the stairs. BetterHands puts a vetted carer in the house and reports to Dubai after every shift.
Daily direct flights
And still not enough
1½ hrs
Behind Colombo
1,000+
Carer profiles
Vetted and reference-checked
72 Hours
Placement guarantee
Or we escalate immediately
96%
First-match success
50+ matching factors
PHSRC
Registered nurses
For clinical home nursing
The largest Sri Lankan community in the Gulf
Why Dubai Families Arrange Home Care in Sri Lanka.
Dubai holds the biggest Sri Lankan population in the Emirates, concentrated in Deira, Karama, Bur Dubai, Al Qusais and International City.
The work spans everything the city runs on. Hospitality, retail, logistics, aviation, construction management and finance, across every shift pattern the calendar allows.
Almost all of it funds a household back home. However, remittance buys medicine and not company, which is the gap professional home care is built to close.
- Workers whose annual leave is counted, approved and already spoken for
- Households sending money home with nobody there to organise the spending
- Parents who have never left Sri Lanka and have no intention of moving
- Families where the last relative in Colombo has themselves come to the Gulf
Closer than anywhere, and no more available
Getting Home from Dubai: Why Leave Will Not Stretch.
Dubai has more flights to Colombo than any other city we serve. Consequently families here are the most likely to believe they can simply go, and the most surprised when the calendar says otherwise.
The fare is not the obstacle
A return to Colombo from DXB is affordable on most Dubai salaries. What is not affordable is the leave, particularly for a second or third trip in the same year.
Shift work eats the rest
Hospitality and aviation rosters are published weeks ahead. Swapping a run of shifts at short notice is harder than booking the flight, and it is often simply refused.
A week home fixes one week
You sort the appointments, restock the kitchen, and fly back. The following Monday your parents are exactly where they were, which is the argument for daily cover.
What Dubai families usually try first
Most arrive having already tried the alternatives. A neighbour who checks in, a cousin who calls, a part-time helper arranged over the phone by an aunt. These work until the week they do not.
The difference with an employed carer is accountability. There is a written record of each shift, a company answerable for the standard, and a replacement if the fit is wrong, none of which an informal arrangement can offer.
Agreed in advance, not invented at 3am
Decisions to Make Before You Need Them.
Because you may be mid-shift when something happens, the decisions have to be settled while everyone is calm rather than improvised over a phone in a staff corridor.
Who we ring first
One named person in Dubai, and one contact in Sri Lanka who can physically attend. Both agreed and written down before the placement begins.
Which hospital
Named in advance with a second choice, so nobody is choosing a hospital while you are unreachable on a roster.
What proceeds without you
If you cannot take a call for eight hours, waiting for approval costs a day. We agree upfront what the carer and our office may simply decide.
What we can put in place
Home Care Services for Your Parents in Sri Lanka.
Where our Dubai families live
Serving Sri Lankan Families Across Dubai.
The care always happens in Sri Lanka. What changes across Dubai is the work, the roster, and how much of a household budget is already going home each month.
Deira
The oldest and densest part of the community, and where most of our Dubai enquiries begin. Long-settled families and shared households.
Karama
Heavily South Asian and centrally placed. A mix of long-term residents and newer arrivals working across the city.
Bur Dubai
Close to the older commercial districts, with many families working in retail, trading and hospitality on rotating shifts.
International City
Newer, more affordable and further out. Households here are frequently sending a larger share of income home each month.
Before you commit
What Dubai Families Ask Before They Commit.
Colombo is four hours away. Do I really need this?
Proximity is not availability. The flight is easy and the leave is not, particularly a second time in one year. Daily care is a daily problem, and it does not pause between your visits.
Does my DHA insurance cover my parents?
No. Mandatory cover regulated by the Dubai Health Authority is tied to your residency and treats you inside the UAE. It does not extend to a parent living in Sri Lanka under any circumstances.
Who is accountable if standards slip?
BetterHands is. Carers are employed and payrolled through us, not introduced and forgotten. One team owns the placement, there is a number to ring, and the replacement guarantee has no cap.
Where the care actually happens
Island-wide coverage in Sri Lanka.
BetterHands coordinates carers from our office in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, just outside Colombo. Placements run island-wide, including Kandy, Galle, Negombo, Matara and Jaffna.
No district loading applies. A placement two hours from the capital costs the same daily rate as one in Colombo 7. Families discharged from the National Hospital of Sri Lanka or private hospitals are transitioned home directly.
BetterHands (Pvt) Ltd
200 Narahenpita - Nawala Rd, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 11222, Sri Lanka
+94 74 21 21 744Transparent pricing
Membership first, then simple daily rates.
One annual membership covers coordination, payroll and unlimited carer replacements. After that you pay a flat daily rate for the level of care your parents need. Fees are charged in Sri Lankan rupees.
BetterHands Annual Membership
LKR 20,000
One-time annual registration fee
- Unlimited caregiver replacements at no additional cost if you are not satisfied
- Payroll management and caregiver administration
- Ongoing coordination and support from the BetterHands team
- Access to all services covered under the BetterHands membership
Step two — daily service rates
Duties below are what each role normally provides — your care plan is tailored during the free assessment.
Caregiver
Daily living support and companionship
LKR 4,500/day
Most families start here — a parent who is managing, but should not be alone all day.
- Friendly conversation and companionship
- Bathing and personal care assistance (if required)
- Medication reminders and general supervision
- Simple meals and refreshments
- Short walks and light activities (if appropriate)
- Day-to-day assistance and emotional support
Nursing Assistant
Personal care plus basic clinical support
LKR 6,000/day
Common where diabetes, blood pressure or early-stage dementia needs daily monitoring.
- Everything in the caregiver role
- Vital signs monitoring (BP, blood sugar, SpO₂)
- Medication reminders and administration support
- Basic wound and continence care
Professional Nurse
Complex medical and post-operative needs
LKR 9,000/day
Usually after a hospital discharge, a stroke, or where wounds and IV care are involved.
- Everything in the nursing assistant role
- PHSRC-registered clinical nursing
- Wound care, injections, and IV therapy
- Catheter, NG tube, and post-operative care
Daily rates are charged in addition to the one-time annual registration fee of LKR 20,000. The same daily rates apply to day care, night care and live-in support — no shift premiums, no travel supplements for any district. Hospital bystander cover is priced by shift length instead — see that service page for its packages. A free care assessment is provided before any commitment.
A one-way transfer for the caregiver is arranged at the start of placement.
Families we look after
Trusted with the people who raised us.
“BetterHands transformed my mother's quality of life. The caregivers are professional, compassionate, and treat her with so much dignity. Our whole family is relieved and grateful.”
Chamari W.
Colombo 07
“After my father's heart surgery at Lanka Hospitals, the nursing team from BetterHands provided exceptional post-operative care at home. They were thorough, kind, and always on time.”
Roshan & Dilini P.
Nugegoda
“My grandfather was very lonely after being discharged from hospital. His BetterHands companion has become a true friend — he is happier and more engaged than he's been in years.”
Priya N.
Kandy
Questions from Dubai
Frequently Asked Questions from Dubai Families.
Yes, and without taking any leave. BetterHands runs a free assessment with your parents in Sri Lanka while you join by phone or video, matches a carer, and sends a written welfare update after every shift.
Sri Lanka is an hour and a half ahead of the UAE, and neither country observes daylight saving, so the gap never moves. You can call at nearly any reasonable hour of your day.
Many families try. The difficulty is that leave is finite and employer-approved, aviation and hospitality rosters are fixed weeks ahead, and a week at home does not cover the following fifty-one.
No. Cover regulated by the Dubai Health Authority applies to you within the Emirates. It pays nothing towards a carer in Colombo, and it would not fund home care even during a visit here.
It is possible but rarely simpler. Sponsoring a parent involves salary thresholds, a deposit, private medical cover at older-age premiums, and annual renewal. Many families find care at home both cheaper and kinder.
Most placements begin within seventy-two hours of an approved care plan. Where a parent is being discharged from hospital we work to the discharge date instead, and the assessment is usually arranged within a day or two.
Yes. Fees are charged in Sri Lankan rupees, which is what keeps daily cover realistic on a Dubai salary, and most families pay by international transfer with a monthly invoice for their records.
Yes. Language is one of the matching factors, alongside cooking, religious observance, temperament and medical experience, and it is settled before the placement begins.
BetterHands nurses are registered with Sri Lanka's Private Health Services Regulatory Council. Cover regulated by the Dubai Health Authority applies inside the UAE only. Visa, sponsorship and insurance rules change periodically and should be confirmed against official sources for your circumstances.
Four hours away, and still not there on Tuesday.
Dubai families rarely struggle to picture the journey. They struggle to get the days signed off, twice in a year, for a problem that recurs every week regardless.
A vetted carer in the house. Home nursing when the condition calls for it. A written update after every shift, readable between rosters rather than only when you are free to call.
The assessment is free, needs no leave, and commits you to nothing. Sometimes it ends with us saying your parents need very little. Either way you stop spending annual leave on emergencies.
Check it yourself
Sources and further reading for Dubai families.
Entitlements and health guidance change. These are the official sources — go to them rather than taking our word for it.
Your parents are in Sri Lanka.
We are already there.
A 15-minute call that costs you no leave and no airfare, booked around your roster. We will tell you honestly what your parents need, even if that is less than you expected.
1,000+
Caregiver profiles
96%
First-match success
Trained
Caregiver training
72
Hours to placement