What is Senior Respite Care and Its Benefits

It can get tough caring continuously for an aging senior, no matter how much they mean to you. Any person filling a caregiver role can appreciate the need for occasional breaks to so that they catch their breath. This holds true whether they are living with their loved one, or simply coordinating the family member’s care from a different location. Handing them off to respite care for a brief period time is often the best solution from every angle. The overriding benefit is that it brings a welcome opportunity to diffuse stress, as well as to work on improving relationships.

Senior respite care is often good for independent seniors that require only temporary assistance, such as following a recent surgery or illness, which needs to be followed up with rehabilitation. In such cases, a senior citizen can benefit a lot more from professional geriatric assistance, as opposed to an all-purpose approach like the ones picked at most traditional rehab centers.

Explaining Senior Respite Care

Respite care for a senior involves availing temporary assistance with their care, preferably from someone even more qualified than you at providing previously. This could be an in-home caregiver or a caregiver team member at one of the Palmcrest Grand Retirement. In each case, the temporary nature of this holds the most relevance; your love one goes back to their old life once the immediate care concern is properly addressed.

Who Benefits, and How

  • For people that know they could use help with their care giving duties, respite care can prove to be a huge relief. There may be stress issues that need to be dealt with, or time conflicts that leave them without room to maneuver. A one-time injury or illness too can cause an acute need for assistance.
  • Respite care can be a great way for an unsure senior to try out a nursing home before actually committing to live in it. Being temporary, a stay there could afford ample chance to focus on the positives.

Respite Care and Caregivers’ Health

At first it may seem strange bringing in an unfamiliar caregiver or sending your loved one to a retirement home so they can try it out for a short period of time. Moreover, it can be stressful knowing you are not looking after things directly the way you normally would. When that feeling strikes, you need to remember that caregivers also need to stay healthy in order to do their job well. Without designated time spent apart from their care giving duties, any person can fall ill, inviting physical and emotional issues that get in the way of looking after their loved ones.

Healthy caregivers are the best caregivers, and respite care assures you get the chance to be and stay healthy and hearty. Meanwhile, the senior receiving care gets to benefit from the new faces, as well as from knowing their loved one can get their much needed rest. In other words, this is a win-win.

When to Use Respite Care

Respite care is useful and needed in a variety of situations. It can be planned in a scheduled manner and in short increments, leaving the caregiver free to manage other responsibilities, including running errands, looking after their children, etc. Such respite time can be a tremendous help on the emotional front, giving the caregiver something solid to set their internal clock by.

Respite care can also be utilized over longer durations, mainly at times when the family cannot provide the focused and coordinated care their elder needs. This includes family vacations, business trips, etc. Both parties get their own kind of vacation from each other, and are satisfied with having the elders’ needs met on a guarantee basis by a qualified professional or team. If the senior is placed in a quality nursing home during that time, they get to enjoy superb meals, excellent assistance, and access to healthy activities.

Lastly, respite care can prove a good way for a senior to try out a prospective nursing home. Your loved one may be hesitant picking among centers with memory care Los Angeles has to offer, or you yourself may harbor indecision in this regard. The best way forward is to send them in a for a test drive of sorts. At their own pace, your loved one can get a feel for the setting at the senior home they are considering; meanwhile, you can rest assured they are being well looked after, even if they come back dissatisfied.

Respite care is a highly useful and needed tool in every caregiver’s kit, and should be recognized as an essential part of the care they provide. On the long haul, it keeps everyone involved that much more healthier and happier, which is basically the point of a good, fulfilled life.

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