Providing daily help to senior patients is a fulfilling job, but handling it with your day-to-day tasks can become mentally and physically demanding. If you are a caregiver for an elderly loved one in the family, you know how overwhelming handling everything can get at times. If you feel like you need a break to recoup your energy, respite care can help you catch your breath and offer quality care for your senior member. Respite care can be a godsend for caregivers. Whether you need it for a few hours a day or for a few days in a week, it can help you focus on your own health so that you can get back to caring for your elderly loved one.
What is Respite Care?
Respite care services provide a planned temporary short-term reprieve from senior care responsibilities. Building regular respite into a care plan is a healthy choice for caregivers and their elder ones, and can also make it easier to quickly arrange backup care in emergency situations. This care is the ideal solution for caregivers to stay healthy and prepared to continue caregiving.
Benefits of Respite Care
- Senior one can stay in a familiar environment, maintain comfortable routine and surroundings.
- Respite care offers you the opportunity to get to know caregivers and become comfortable with home care assistance, which can be useful for future caregiving needs.
- Respite Care can be customized according to the individual.
- The caregiver can help with everything from errands to bathing to making meals, and more.
Respite Care Options
Let’s look at some options for Respite Care that may help your family plan better for the caregiver:
1. Adult Day Care
Adult Day-care or Adult Day Centers is a Respite Care option that can benefit the caregiver as well as the senior being cared for. This care option offers a safe environment where seniors and those with disabilities can be supervised. Many activities are planned to enable seniors to interact with others in a social setting and to exercise their bodies and minds. There are other services too including door-to-door transportation.
2. In-Home Care
Another option that is cost-effective for respite care is in-home care services. Professional in-home care services may offer adequate care and supervision for seniors who are still in the early stages of Dementia. Care can be either for a few hours a day or round the clock at the client’s house. Prices for this service vary depending on the geographic location, the skill level of the caregiver, and the hours needed. There are several advantages to in-home respite care:
- Less disruptive to the client as they get to stay in a familiar environment.
- Paid caregiver can come a few days before the care is needed to meet the senior one, understand their routine, food likes, medications, and dislikes.
- Family can meet the caregiver in advance, giving them peace of mind about who is staying with their loved one.
3. Emergency Respite Care
There may be a need for respite care on an unplanned or emergency basis, such as hospitalization of the caregiver, or unexpected vacation. It’s a good idea to have a plan in place with a home care company or assisted living facility for such a situation so that you aren’t scrambling to search for a provider when an emergency arises. Keep in mind that assisted living communities cannot guarantee room availability on short or no notice. Here GMG home care can help, we are open to emergency respite care once you connect with us.
4. Facility Respite Care
Nursing homes assisted living, and continuing care facilities may offer room services for senior loved ones who need a place to stay while caregivers take time away. For those considering a new, permanent living arrangement, this is a chance to try it out and see if residential living is a good idea. The drawback of this option is that many facilities need the same amount of paperwork, health requirements as if you are going to be a permanent resident.
5. Informal Sitter Services
If Respite Care is only needed for a few hours (for instance, for the caregiver to visit the doctor or run errands) community civic groups (volunteer programs and churches) can often offer 2-3 hours of companionship and supervision at no cost.
Respite Care can cause confusion in the minds of many families. For this reason, planning ahead and becoming familiar with your choices is very vital. It may take careful planning and research, but respite care is out there. This challenge doesn’t have to be faced alone.
Family caregivers can turn to GMG Homecare for the help they need. We offer high-quality respite care as well as comprehensive dementia and Alzheimer’s care. Whether you need a break or your loved one needs extensive in-home care, connect with us today.
