Respite care is a growing industry, and it’s rather new, having really only been defined early in the 1990s. At its most basic, respite care is exactly what it sounds like – by having trained professionals come either in-home, or at a dedicated service facility, the caregivers of a loved one can have a much-needed break, all while their loved one continues to receive great treatment.
It’s short term, of course – after a short time, your loved one returns home, or you and your other family caregivers resume treatment and care of your loved one. It can give you a much-deserved break, and be a good way to balance personal and professional care.
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Let’s look at some of the reasons that respite care might be right for your loved one
1. You Need Professional Care After Sudden Decrease in Health, or Accident
In the case that a bedridden or severely ill loved one has a significant decrease in their health, a professional homecare provider in Manitoba, are able to better aid and perform necessary functions to ensure they recover quickly, allowing family caregivers to rest and focus on preparing for the needs of their loved one once normal treatment resumes.
In the case of an accident, respite care can be helpful for aiding physical therapy and recovery, as trained professionals will always be on hand to ensure that recovery proceeds as it’s supposed to.
2. You Need A Break
As much as some people may not like to admit it, caring for a loved one is hard and draining. It’s not a shameful thing to admit – what family caregivers do is extraordinary, and it’s very hard to care for a loved one at home constantly, with no breaks. Given the massive responsibility and constant care needed by ill or struggling loved ones, even the most patient, loving, and caring family caregiver needs a rest.
Respite care allows you or your caregivers a short period of time in which they can rest, free of the responsibility of caregiving – while still maintaining a high quality-of-life and high standard of care for your loved one. Because of this, there’s no need to feel guilty – you’re still providing your loved one with the care they need, and allowing yourself a rest so that you can continue to do so after respite care is over.
3. Your Loved One Isn’t Socializing
Out-of-home respite care centers often house many patients who have similar needs, and require care and monitoring – and that means that your loved one, who may be unable to leave the house, can get some much-needed socialization. It’s been proven that socialization is important for our brains and happiness, and in addition to giving yourself a break, respite care can help increase the amount of socializing a loved one does, by introducing new staff, patients, and other faces.
4. You’re Concerned About Traditional Nursing Homes
A combination of at-home care and respite care can be a great alternative to a nursing home – indeed, it’s been shown that the risk of neglect and abuse of elderly or infirm loved ones decreases quite a bit with respite care compared to traditional, fully-featured nursing homes.
In addition, a combination of respite care and family caregiving can reduce or avoid the need to shift a loved one into a nursing home or care facility entirely – and has been shown to reduce deleterious outcomes associated with at-home caregiving, such as high stress, poor caregiver health, and even divorce.
So with a combination of traditional at-home family caregiving, in-home or out-of-home respite care, you can have the best of both worlds – your loved one can receive great care, and you can rest easy knowing they’re being taken care of, even when you’re not able to take care of them.
5. You Want to Increase Your Loved One’s Autonomy
Sometimes, loved ones feel the burden of being taken care of just as heavily as family caregivers do. They feel guilty for needing so much, or feel bad that they’re restricting your activities and your lifestyle – even though they know you love and appreciate them.
By having in-home or out-of-home respite care, paid professionals can take care of your loved ones for short periods of time – and the fact that they are professionals can really help your loved one take full advantage of their services without feeling guilty, and increase their personal autonomy by giving them multiple caregiving choices, and knowing that they have caregiving alternatives even when you’re not around.
Regardless of the level of care your loved one needs, respite care can be a great way to ensure that you can continue to give them a high standard of care and love, while still allowing you (and your loved one) to maintain personal autonomy, and have the option of more advanced, specialized out-of-home-care when necessary.
As time goes on, and the population of the United States continues to age, it’s likely that this sector of the care market will continue to grow, given its numerous advantages, flexibility, and unique temporary-care model.
