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Respite care is a temporary form of care that allows carers to take a break.
Allowing someone else to take over your care duties for a short period of time can be of great benefit to both you and the care recipient.
You can organise respite care for a few hours, a day, a few days, or a few weeks.
Respite care services can take place in a residential care home, or at home by a visiting or live-in carer.
There are other situations where respite care may be needed. For example, you may wish to try a trial period when thinking about permanent residential or live-in care.
Or, you might be looking for care support following an operation or illness, also known as convalescent care.
In other cases, emergency care may be needed if the primary carer becomes ill or has to be called away at short notice.
A respite carer performs the same role as the primary carer. To allow this to happen as effectively and seamlessly as possible, a discussion between the primary carer and the respite care team is essential to help ensure continuity in routine.
Typical duties of a respite live-in carer can include:
● Household cleaning
● Help getting dressed
● Personal care
● Preparing meals
● Emergency response
● Medication prompting
● Running errands
● Companionship
● Support with mobility
Those with dementia may require a slightly different approach to respite care. This is purely due to how a disruption in routine can affect a person with dementia. Generally, in-home options might be better for this – they cause less change in routine and your loved one can stay in a familiar environment.
In-home respite care has many benefits – first and foremost it causes the least disruption in routine and allows your loved one to stay in an environment they are familiar and comfortable with.
In-home respite care is also a flexible option that can fit around your lifestyle and your loved one’s care needs.
Respite care does not have to be full time. There are respite care options where carers come into the home and assist at different times to allow you to have a break during the day or night.
If you organize respite care to allow you to take time off from caring, there are special rules to determine whether you'll continue to receive a Carer's Allowance.
The basic rule is that you can continue to receive your Carer's Allowance for up to four weeks in any six-month period if you have a break from caring.
However, the rules are complicated, so you should get specialist advice from the Carer's Allowance Unit.
Different types of short-term care are available for other reasons – such as intermediate care for those being discharged from hospital. If you’re looking for other types of short-term care, please get in touch.
Reading through our brochure together can be a useful way to start care conversations with your family or loved ones.
If you have any questions about our care services or working with us, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or email. One of our team members will be more than happy to answer any questions.
01452 345614
Southgate House, Southgate Street, Gloucester, GL1 1UB
Info@Multilinkcaremgmt.co.uk
Monday – Friday (8:00 AM – 5:30 PM)
