Have you been taking care of your aging family member? As a primary caregiver, you also have personal needs that should be attended to. Being on top of your health ensures that you could be at your best self in attending to your loved one’s needs.
If the term respite care is new to your ears, this is simply your level of care and assistance given to your loved one when you’re not around. In most cases, respite care is a temporary arrangement depending on what you have agreed with your chosen provider.
As you make important decisions for the welfare of your senior family member, respite care should be among your considerations. Here are important items you need to know about getting respite help:
1. Is it time to get respite care assistance?
It is understandable when primary caregivers struggle with burnout that could result in negative responses towards providing care. Instead of thinking about the perfect timing to get respite care, prioritize getting it as soon as possible. This way, you won’t get to a point of developing an unhealthy mindset about caregiving brought about by burnout.
2 . Why do you need to get a break?
While your role in caring for your loved one is very important, you also need to maintain your overall wellbeing. Getting a personal time off could reset your strength so that you would be ready to joyfully assist your family member once again.
3. How long should respite care be provided?
Depending on the type of break you’re getting, the length of time for respite care could be adjusted. What’s very important to attain is that you could get this respite so you could also be on your best self before getting back to your primary caregiving role.
4. In what way can the respite care service improve your relationship?
When the primary caregiver experiences burnout from caregiving, they could see the situation and the person they’re caring for in a negative light. This will put both the caregiver and family member in an unhealthy situation. However, when the caregiver has regained the energy to provide care once again, they could better manage the requests and needs of their family member, thus strengthening their relationship.
5. What do you look for from a respite care provider?
If you need someone to provide respite care for your loved one, your main consideration should be their capability. The care provider should be licensed, experienced, and coming from a reputable company. These are basic considerations and you could be flexible with the rest. What’s essential is that you have peace of mind when you entrust your loved one to another.
Bottom line:
Are you ready to get respite help? The decision may be difficult to make for starters. However, this is also a decision that must be made as it results in improved wellbeing both for you and your loved one.
If you would like to further talk about this respite care arrangement, we’d be glad to discuss the rest of your clarifications. Contact us here