What is respite care?
Short-term care is as invaluable for seniors as it is for their families. Respite care, as short-term care is also known, offers an abundance of relief to family caregivers. Adult children who are overcome with the simultaneous duties of tending to their kids, managing a career and household, as well as caring for an elderly parent are among the people who benefit most from respite care. Enormous responsibilities alone do not always warrant respite care. A family who travels abroad on a two-week vacation may call on respite services to provide care for their aging loved one during the brief time away.
Is respite care flexible?
The nature of respite care makes it flexible. Temporary relief may be sustained for a few hours on a Tuesday afternoon, for instance, or extended to fulltime care for four months.
The frequency of care may also be adapted to family caregivers’ needs. A working mother who also cares for an aging father with diabetes may be presented with an occasional change in work schedule. Respite care is available to tend to the senior’s needs even on an intermittent basis.
Short-term notice is often sufficient when hiring urgent or same-day respite care. Emergency respite services are also offered by home care agencies.
What types of services does respite care provide?
Compassionate in-home care describes respite care services. A caregiver, either hired through a senior care agency or recruited privately, arrives at the senior’s home to provide care for a pre-determined period. Support is generally non-medical. Assistance with bathing, toileting, grooming and dressing are typical non-clinical services a respite caregiver provides to aging seniors. Cooking meals and help with feeding are also a part of respite care duties. Professional caregivers also offer invaluable companionship, remedying the loneliness that often affects older people.
What if my loved one needs short-term medical assistance?
Licensed practical nurses may be hired to provide clinical respite care in the comfort of the senior’s residence. Skilled medical practitioners are experienced in administering medications, changing wound dressings and checking vital signs, for instance.
Examples of scenarios in which clinical respite care may be hired is when a senior recently had a surgery and is recuperating at home. Or, if a physical injury befalls an aging loved one, a respite nurse is qualified to tend to the senior’s medical needs until he or she recovers. The condition of a senior who has a recent change in medication may be temporarily monitored by a home health practitioner for the presence of side effects or until the senior is stabilized.
Is respite care only available in a senior’s home setting?
Most seniors prefer to age in familiar surroundings. Although older people experience greater well-being when living at home, respite care is not restricted to in-home care.
Adult day centers are available for seniors who need supervision during the day. People with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, those who have suffered a stroke, or individuals with disabilities benefit from the therapeutic care offered by professional day center staff. Music and art therapy programs, nourishment through healthy meals and transportation are all non-clinical services provided in adult day centers. Open during weekday hours, adult day centers are optimal for families and their loved ones when a few hours of morning or afternoon supervision is necessary.
When temporary, 24-hour care is required, many residential programs offer seniors a place to receive non-medical care. Similar to the services provided in an assisted living facility, residential programs are staffed with skilled employees who look after the needs of their residents. Personal help with the activities of daily living is provided. Seniors have the opportunity to socialize with other seniors. Older adults feel safe in residential settings, where around the clock care is standard. Families feel secure knowing emergencies are handled immediately.
Hospice centers, hospitals and nursing homes may also offer respite care within their facilities, especially for older adults with extensive medical needs. Day centers are ideal when elders require non-medical care.
Seniors who age at home rarely undergo lifestyle changes. Adjustments need to be made, however, when older people temporarily reside in respite care facilities, like adult day centers or respite programs in assisted living facilities.
What are payment terms for respite services?
Respite care providers are aware that short-term care needs are sporadic. Families pay for adult day centers as needed. Leaving dad at the local adult day center on Monday morning, for example, will cost the family only the few hours he was there. Respite services provided by senior care agencies are paid for based on the number of hours a caregiver has worked.
Insurance typically does not cover respite care, unless licensed medical specialists, like nurses and dieticians, are hired. Long-term care insurance may cover a portion of the costs, however.
Volunteers from church organizations may also be able to provide a limited level of care on a short-term basis.
Assisting Hands Respite Care Services
An initial meeting between the Assisting Hands Home Care team, the family and the care recipient starts the respite caregiving process. Assisting Hands Home Care representatives learn about your loved one’s requirements and prepare a flexible senior care plan to go into effect whenever respite care services are needed. You can depend on the Assisting Hands Home Care team for compassionate, trustworthy respite care services any day of the year.
