What is Respite Care?
Respite care is a type of assistance that allows the family support worker to take a break from care-giving. This type of care focuses on helping family support workers recharge, ease their stress, and avoid support worker burnout. Rather than spending time attending to daily duties, respite care provides assistance and support to the family support worker. Keeping the support worker healthy and supported results in higher quality time spent together. The longer a family member can provide appropriate care, the longer the loved one is able to stay comfortably at home.
Role of a Family support worker
The role of a family support worker can be an honor and a privilege. Some support workers acknowledge they enjoy having the opportunity to “repay” their parent by caring for them. Caring for a loved one can be a rewarding experience, but intense or long-term care can often have a negative impact on the support worker’s health and well-being. This is especially difficult if you are a first-time family support worker.These individuals often struggle with balancing their role as a support worker with their own family’s needs, or caregiving and paid employment. This often leads to a situation where the support worker feels overwhelmed and confused about what steps to take next in their caregiving journey combined with the effects of anticipatory grief, and may put the family support worker at risk of:
- Psychological effects such as depression, anxiety, and anger
- Health related issues resulting from chronic stress, lack of sleep and/or physical exercise
- Personal financial problems
- Negative career consequences
- Drug/alcohol abuse
- Elderly abuse
In order to prevent the risks mentioned above, you should consider respite if you’re a support worker.
Types of Respite Care
Respite care can be provided at home or in a long-term care facility. Care can be provided by friends, neighbors, family members, volunteers, or a home health care service provider.
Some examples of respite care services include:
- Personal Care
- Companionship
- Meal Preparation
- Medication Reminder
- Light Housekeeping
- Activity of Daily Living
Respite care also benefits the person receiving care in the following ways:
- Developing and nurturing the care recipient’s social, recreational and life skills;
- Reducing stress and improving long-term functioning of both support workers and care recipients;
- Preventing crisis situations and elder abuse.
Respite Resources are Available and Necessary for Family support workers
If you are a family support worker, find some time this summer to focus on you. You deserve an extra hand or some time to take care of yourself. Almacare UK offers respite care and home health services that are individualized and designed especially for you. Contact us about home care services at 080 0910 1037.
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