What Is Respite Care?

By Andy Niska | May 13, 2019 |

If you’re a caregiver, you may wonder if you can ever take a break. Have you considered respite care? What is it? Read on to find out.

Caregivers face endless sacrifices and limited time for themselves. In fact, 45% have mental health needs they neglect to fulfill their caregiving role.

This is one of the main benefits of respite care. Whether you’re caring for an elderly relative, or a young person with special needs, you still need some time to yourself. Respite care can help caregivers their needs with the needs of their loved ones.

If you’re just now learning about respite care, check out the guide below to find out more.

What Is Respite Care?

Respite care is meant to be a time-limited service to help caregivers provide care. Caregivers have loved ones and full lives of their own, which can be complicated with full-time caregiving.

This form of care is usually short-term, to help ease the emotional, mental, and physical burden of full-time, unpaid caregivers. The stress of caregiving has led 60% of family caregivers between 19 and 64 to experience more health issues than non-caregivers.

How Long Does It Last?

Respite care is supposed to be temporary. It’s designed to support the full-time caregiver- not replace them. There are even government programs to help pay for this care.

You can organize respite care services for a few hours, an entire day, a few days, or even a few weeks. These times can be intermittent or regularly scheduled.

Types of Respite Care

Once you figure out how long and how often you need respite care, decide which type of respite care works for you.

In-Home

In-home respite care does exactly what you think – it provides caregiving services in the home. Most receivers of care prefer to stay in the home, where they have a comfortable environment.

The respite caregiver will follow the family’s routines, provide non-medical supervision, and provide self-help assistance.

Out of Home

Some community facilities can be licensed for respite care. These can include day centers or other residential facilities. These exist to help the community, and can be paid for with vouchers.

Specialized Facilities

There are designated facilities designed just for temporary respite care. These are good for emergency situations and can offer professional assistance. Patients can stay somewhere between days and weeks.

Emergency Care

When caring for someone with a chronic illness, emergencies arise. The best thing is to plan for them with emergency respite. Health centers, adult daycares, and other facilities can provide this service.

Sitter-Companions

Few a few hours, a couple of times a week, a sitter companion can provide respite care. This option is community driven, and can even be funded by the community through religious organizations or other community institutions.

Daycare Options

During business hours, adult day care is a respite care option. Some facilities may even offer care 24 hours a day. They usually cater to their specific clients.

Finding Respite Care Services

Respite care services are an important option for caregivers to have. There are many services available to suit your specific needs.

If you’re looking for the right respite care for you, check out our offerings.

Author
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Andy Niska

Owner at Love In Home Senior Care

Andy has over 20+ years experience in the medical community and has a true compassion for seniors. With a degree in Health Care Administration, he developed a background in a variety of health care services that only comes from first hand experience. While working as a manager of a large clinic and as an account executive for medical suppliers. Andy has built valuable relationships with the medical community.

His role in Love In Home Senior Care is to educate people on what care choice is the best fit for the senior and their family while attempting to make this decision as stress-free as possible for everyone involved.

This decision making process should be smooth and stress free for everyone, including all family members and their loved ones. Having access to people with experience (like the team at Love In Home Senior Care) to assist you along the way can help this process. With an extensive background in health care, Andy has the experience needed to guide and direct your loved one to the choice that is the best fit.