Things to Consider When Seeking Respite Services in Your Community
• What kinds of services do I need? For example, long-term, short-term, or both, and why?
• Do I prefer services in my home or at an outside setting?
• Do I want to use an individual or an agency?
• Does the agency provide the type of services I need?
• What is the cost of services? How is payment arranged?
• What are the training and experience of the care providers? Will they need— and accept— additional disease-specific, hands-on instruction and education to meet the patient’ s needs?
• How, and by whom, are the care providers supervised?
• Does the program maintain up-to-date information about medical and other needs? Is there a written care plan?
• What procedures does the program have for emergencies?
• Can family members meet and interview the people who care for the patient?
• How far ahead of time do services need to be arranged?
• Are families limited to a certain number of hours of service?
If Service is Provided Out-of-Home
• What is a typical daily schedule?
• How are the meals handled?
• Is the program able to meet the individual’ s specific needs for physical assistance, medication, food preparation, and the like?
• Does the program offer transportation?
• What is the client-staff ratio?
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Many family caregivers have a difficult time reaching out for help and relief from their caregiving responsibilities. Sometimes, a respite trial can be a good way to experience what it is like to let someone else care for your loved one. You can gain knowledge and clarity by thinking through and discussing your questions with others. Hopefully, your experience with respite meets the dual goals of helping you— the carepartner— to feel revived and refreshed while at the same time taking care of your loved one’ s needs.