Benefits of Respite Care for Family Caregivers

• By Team
• September 26, 2021

Caregiver fatigue and caregiver burnout are real! Caregivers are often passionate about the care they give to your loved ones and the elderly. But during this process, they forget to pay their emotional and physical health some much-needed attention. So, it is indeed necessary for family caregivers to give themselves a rejuvenating break now and then.

Respite care is the battery recharge that helps caregivers stay on their feet and provide optimal care.

So what respite care in its true essence?

The Basics of Respite Care

Respite care service provides a well-deserving and hardworking caregiver emotional and physical care of their own by appointing another caregiver to take care of them. Respite care can be for a few days or several weeks. During this time family caregivers are given the freedom to rest, relax and rejuvenate, or if they want to take care of other personal duties they are free to do so.

This care can be given at home or at a homecare facility and a family member or friend can often accompany the caregiver during their time in respite care.

Reasons for Caregiver Burnout

Caregivers can experience burnout because of three major reasons:

1. Too much work too little time– A long to-do list is a norm for all caregivers and some caregivers have an “I can handle it all without break” mentality. The end result is that they feel overworked and burned out. Pulling back a little can enhance the quality of care provided. Focusing on a few tasks at a time can allow caregivers to work with a much clearer mind increasing their productivity level.
2. No time to catch a shuteye- Sleep is important but family caregivers have tough schedules and working round the clock over exhausts the body and mind. A way to combat worrying about the elderly loved one is that the caregivers can install monitoring devices so they can care for the loved one and save themselves from sleep deprivation at the same time.
3. Lack of support- An unstable support system in the form of a friend to confide in, an inactive social life, and neglecting the help of someone when under stress are also major causes for family caregiver burnout.
4. Mood changes in the elderly- Age and declining health can make your loved one irritable and they may use the caregiver as an outlet to express their frustration. Caregivers are ever-patient but this can cause much emotional stress for any family caregiver. This also has the effect of decreasing self-confidence.

Benefits of Respite Care

There are many health benefits of respite care for caregivers, some include:

• Making time for health and rejuvenation

Caregivers often provide 24/7 homecare services. During the caregiving process for your loved one dedicated family caregivers often put their own sickness and pains on a backseat, forgotting and often ignoring them. This can take a toll on their physical and emotional health.

Professional respite care is a way for caregivers to heal any injuries that may come in the way of providing your loved ones with the optimal care they need.

• Emotional Health and Breakdowns

Caregivers go through emotional ups and downs like any normal individual. Sometimes life is hard and coping becomes a tough process. During this time when the mind is not at ease, it’s time to take a step back and breathe. Respite care provides that breathe of fresh air and gives much-needed time to the caregiver to cope and bring everything important back into perspective. During this time the family caregiver can choose to get professional help for their emotional health.

• Opportunity to Test the Level of Care

Is the level of care that the homecare service is providing the very best? The answer to this question can only be perfectly answered when the caregiver is the one evaluating the care that your loved one receives. During this time in respite care the family caregiver can evaluate:

1. Whether or not the caregiving process has been tailormade to suit the patient.
2. The level of empathy the caregiver has while providing the appropriate caregiving services.
3. How well organized the caregiving process is.
4. The comfort level that the care process provides.

A thorough evaluation of the care level your loved one receives is one of the ways that Amazing Grace Homecare stays on top. Making sure that your loved one gets the very best professional care at all times.

So, what skills does a family caregiver need to provide optimum care to your loved one? Know them all by reading: “What skills do you need to become a caregiver?”

• Personal Time with Family

Some caregivers live far from home and being unable to visit them for a long time may lead to homesickness. Some negative effects that homesickness can bring are:

• Increased feeling of nervousness and sadness which can lead to depression in the long run.
• An overwhelmed feeling of anxiousness and isolation.
• Decrease in the ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand.

Respite care gives the caregiver an opportunity to:

• Bond with family.
• Reassure the caregiver that their loved one is in good health.
• They can also choose to make time to sit with their loved ones and make time to lay out all their troubles to their family and friends to reduce the chances of stress, axiety and depression.

• A Gateway to Social Engagement

Satisfaction is something you feel when you’re in a community. Interacting with people and expressing feelings relieves mental exhaustion. It has also been scientifically proven that social interactions give people an enhanced ability to solve problems when in tough situations. More social interaction can also increase caregiver’s ability to take in new information fasters allowing them to adapt to new and improved methods of caregiving at a faster pace.

So know that you know the benefits of getting family caregiver respite care are you ready to give it a try yourself? Let us know in the comment below.