Respite Care

While many elderly and/or disabled individuals are fortunate to have a family member or friend who provides care to help them in support of their wish to remain relatively independent and in their own home, in focusing on respecting the choice of the individual sometimes not enough attention is paid to the needs of the family members who provide the care.

The literature suggests just some of the benefits of respite are:

• carers of the elderly who receiving on average 4 hours of respite per week, reported improvement in their own physical health
• the elderly with chronic disabilities require fewer hospital admissions for acute medical care
• improved emotional health
• reduced likelihood that the care recipient will be institutionalised
• whether short or long-term respite, family who care for dementia sufferers who use adult day care experience lower levels of carer related stress and better psychological well-being
• One survey of carers found that:

• 88% agreed that respite allowed their loved one to remain at home
• 98% stated that respite made them a better care-giver
• 98% said respite increased their ability to provide a less stressful environment, and
• 79.5% said respite contributed to the stability of their marriage

At Envigor we recognise that sometimes carers need support to keep going so we provide personalise respite solutions for the individual, carer and family including:

• In-home respite
• Respite within a designation facility
• Emergency Respite
• Sitter-companion service
• Adult Day Care – during business hours (Monday – Friday)
• For a couple of hours up to several weeks

Without respite, not only can families suffer economically and emotionally, carers themselves may face serious health and social risks as a result of stress associated with the continuous burden of 24 hour care.

Ensuring the health and wellbeing of you the carer through access to regular respite reduces the risk of hospitalisation and extra doctor visits of your loved one and also minimises the potential for work absences for you and others in your family team.