Families Need Respite Care
What is Respite Care?
Respite care, simply put, is a break for the caregiver or care provider. Respite care is planned, short-term and time-limited breaks for families and other unpaid care givers in order to support and maintain the primary care giving relationship.
Even though many families take great joy in providing aged care to their loved ones so that they can remain at home, the consequences for the family care provider can be overwhelming without some support, such as respite. Respite provides the much needed temporary break from the many time-consuming and depleting challenges faced by the family caregiver.
Support Services for Family Caregivers
While much attention has been given to the benefits of independent living for elders and providing elder care in the home, little attention has been paid to the needs of the family caregivers who make this possible.
The physical and emotional consequences for the family caregiver and care providers can be overwhelming. Family members providing elderly care services for an aging parent need a temporary break from the exhausting challenges they face.
This type of support service for the family caregiver is usually referred to as respite care. It is an interval of rest or relief.
Who Needs Respite Care?
When families are providing aged or elderly care by looking after seniors, particularly in the home, a period of respite is not only recommended but required for the primary caregiver. How can anyone perform well without a break?
Respite, or a short term, time-limited break, is the service most often requested by family caregivers who are providing aged care.
In the United States today there are approximately 50 million people who are providing elderly services at home for family members, including elderly parents, spouses or other family members with disabling or chronic illnesses. Without this home-care, most of these cared for loved ones would require permanent placement in senior living communities, elderly day care or health care facilities.
Without respite, not only can families suffer emotionally and physically, caregivers themselves may face serious health and social risks as a result of stress associated with continuous care giving. Three fifths of family caregivers age 19-64 surveyed recently by The Commonwealth Fund reported fair or poor health, one or more chronic conditions, or a disability, compared with only one-third of non caregivers.
Respite has been shown to help sustain family caregiver health and wellbeing, avoid or delay out-of-home placements and elderly day care and reduce the likelihood of abuse and neglect.
Respite service gives family caregivers an opportunity to spend time away from their loved one with the confidence that a trained professional is administering professional elder or aged care in their absence.
So if you a family caregiver providing elder care to a loved one, the answer to “Who needs respite care?” is you.
What do family caregivers need the most? After over 16 years of providing caregiver services, this is what we have learned family caregivers need us to do…
- Provide flexible home health aides who can come when you need them
- Provide back-up caregivers if your family member or regular caregiver cannot come for a shift or shifts
- Provide temporary freedom from care giving and time for yourself
- Provide loving care for your senior
- Understand the diagnosis
- Take your loved one to doctor’s appointments, religious services, outings and more
- Provide your senior with a relationship with the paid caregiver that is more than dollars and sense
- Provide freedom from worry when you can’t be with your senior loved one
- Provide a team approach to elder care: family caregivers and the paid caregiver
- Provide excellent communication among family, agency and nurse aides
- Provide someone with which to share experiences
- Counseling on available resources in the community
- Referral and care coordination services
Let a licensed agency like Innovative Nurses & Sitters provide the backup caregiving services when primary caregivers need a rest. You can reach us at 713 523-2329.
The Challenges of Caregiving
The challenges – and blessings – of sharing your lives in the same home, or overseeing an elder loved one’s care outside the home, can be enormous. For those who have chosen this option, we applaud you for your willingness to provide caregiver services. You are to be commended for you selfless support.
Even the best caregiver needs a period of respite. Handing that blessing temporarily to someone else can be a difficult decision. Innovative Nurses & Sitters is here for you. We fully empathize with your situation and understand the complexities of finding temporary part time relief. Let us help you.
