What is Respite Care?
Respite care is a temporary type of in-home care of an aging loved one who is ill, disabled, or requires 24-hour care, providing relief for the caregiver. There are many respite care types, including in-home caregivers, adult day centers, and extended stay facilities. They all allow the primary caregivers to take a break from your daily care routine and manage other responsibilities in your life.
Benefits of respite care
This type of care lets you do simple things like taking your time to run errands, stay socially active, and even take vacations. “Respite” is often used as an acronym to describe the benefits respite care can offer caregivers:
- Renewal and relaxation: Re-engaging with a hobby or something that makes you happy can vastly improve your mood and help to bring a sense of calm to your life. Even just sitting down in a quiet home and watching a movie can be therapeutic.
- Energy: Relaxation makes sure you have time to re-energize. A rested caregiver is more likely to provide quality care.
- Space: Respite care allows you to get away from the role of caregiver for a few hours, days, or even weeks.
- Pleasure: It can be difficult for caregivers to enjoy life because their aging loved ones may not enjoy theirs. Respite care gives caregivers the chance to do enjoyable things with some peace of mind, knowing your loved one is being taken care of.
- Identity: Respite care helps you get back to your sense of self.
- Time away: Having some time away from the caregiving role can help you recharge your battery. Many people use respite care to take a vacation for a long weekend or even a week or more.
- Engagement: Particularly with Covid-19, social isolation can be a big problem for caregivers. Respite care can help you to stay active with your friends and family.
Common reasons to use respite care
Caregivers commonly use respite care when:
- Caregivers need a break.
- They need to travel.
- Their loved one wants a trial for a senior community.
- Their loved one needs a change of pace.
- Helping their loved ones ease into permanent senior living.
The most crucial benefit of using respite care, whether short-term or on a week to week basis, is to help you manage your personal life. Taking a break from being a caregiver to focus on yourself, your other responsibilities, and your spouse and kids is key to keeping a healthy balance while caring for a loved one.
Another way you can take advantage of respite care is by using the free time to connect with other caregivers in similar situations by utilizing support groups. If you’re caring for someone with dementia, talking with someone else in a similar situation can help you de-stress, bounce ideas off each other, and provide support through companionship. Connecting with people in the same situation can help you feel less alone.
Types of respite care for the elderly
In-home respite care
We provide in-home respite care based on your schedule and unique situation. Care can be for multiple hours a day, overnight, or weeks at a time. We can arrange a caregiver specializing in specific conditions like Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, or dementia. In-home respite services can include companion care and a personal care assistant:
- Companion care: Companion care consists of someone who can prepare meals, do light housekeeping, help with laundry, pick up groceries or run other errands. They offer companionship to your loved one when you’re away.
- Personal care assistant: In addition to companion care duties, personal care assistants help your loved one with things like bathing, dressing, toileting, and grooming. They also help make sure medications are taken on schedule and certified to help with mobility issues.
In-facility respite care
In-facility respite care involves dropping off or, in some cases, the facility picking up your loved one to go to an assisted living facility for a few hours, overnight, or for an extended period of time. In-facility respite care can include adult day care services and assisted living respite care:
- Adult day services: Day services provide health monitoring, activities, meals, transportation, and more, all within a safe environment. Day services are beneficial if you need a full day to run errands or need some alone time. Facilities can be stand-alone adult care centers, churches, hospitals, or nursing homes.
- Assisted living respite care: Assisted living facilities, sometimes called skilled nursing homes or continuing care retirement communities, provide room and board for adults who need help with daily tasks. Using an assisted living facility for respite care lets you take extended time away for things like vacation or out of town obligations.
In Summary
Providing full-time care to an aging parent or loved one can take a toll on you mentally and physically. Respite care can give you a much-needed break, whether it be for a few hours to run errands, a couple of days for out of town obligations, or weeks at a time for a much-needed vacation. You don’t need to take on full-time caregiving alone, and respite care may be just what you need to keep your personal life healthy and balanced.
Our Affinity Senior Care team would be honored to set up a free virtual or in-home consultation and safety check. Whether you choose us to assist you or not, we can help steer you in the right direction based on our vast experience of helping people in the greater Oakland county area. Learn more by visiting our website at www.affinityseniorcare.com or call 248.363.8430. Thank you to our friends at Cherish Local for their help with this video and blog post.