Respite care is nothing permanent. It is a temporary and short-term care process in which an elderly individual is taken care of by someone other than their regular caregiver. This could happen in a family home or a retirement community.
Respite care provides family members a time to relax from their caregiving duties, allowing them to re-energize and take a short break whilst the elderly individual is being well looked after. Respite care offers can come in hourly, daily or overnight packages. Here are four benefits of respite care:
1. A Welcome Break
Caring for an elderly person can feel rewarding. At the same time, it could feel exhausting, day in and day out having to care for the same individual is never easy. Like everyone else who clocks in and out of work has a vacation period, respite care provides this specific vacation time for the regular caregiver. They may need a break in order to recharge or to look into their own healthcare needs. Working tirelessly daily can take a toll on anyone and respite care could give the individual a much-needed break.
2. Used as a Trial
Respite care could be utilized as a method to analyse and test out a retirement care home or community. For many elderly individuals and families, understanding and accepting the requirement for extra care can be a humbling, emotional, and difficult decision.
Respite care will allow the elderly person to examine and see if the home or community is suitable for them. For example, this could be used by an elderly lady or gentleman for a few weeks whilst staying in a retirement center in order for them to test out the food, environment, staff, and lifestyle before making a solid decision on staying.
3. Aids Recovery
If a caregiver or family member is suffering from an illness of any sort, respite care is needed in order for the caregiver to recover quickly and return back to work. Older individuals could opt to live in a residential home for a short while support is provided on a 24/7 basis until the regular caregiver returns. In general, community care services from laundry, cooking and assistance to maintain well-being are provided at a high level of competency.
4. Tranquillity
Peace is something a caregiver needs to bring in when looking after an elderly person. A caregiver has their own needs, emergencies and life! An urgent respite could give them a sense of tranquillity, while they are attending to things that require urgent attention.
In addition, an aged care respite that has been approved by an aged care provider is worth checking out. There is nothing more crucial in your personal and work life than keeping peace of mind, now the caregiver can handle your personal matters without any worries or fears.
Remember, you are not out of options, if you need some time off opt for support from respite care! You can’t go wrong if you do some research beforehand.
