Hope for Disabilities

Unless you have experienced it first hand, you may not understand or appreciate the importance of respit care. Respit care is important for everyone, whether it be someone with a lifelong medical condition, or an elderly person, as well as their caregiver.  Believe it or not, caregivers can benefit from respit care just as much as the elderly person, or the person with the lifelong medical condition. When a family has a child with a medical condition, or a loved one with Alzheimers or Dimentia, this might mean that they have long days with doctor's appointments, seizures, meltdowns, memory loss, and unnecessary stressors like people who are not properly educated who feel the need to put their two cents in where it more than likely doesn't belong.

What good is a caregiver, if they are so overwhelmed and exhausted that they can't even take care of themselves let alone another person?  Respit care is where another person comes in for a few hours to give the primary caregiver a break, so that they can do things like; sleep, shower, go to the grocery store, or even an outing like a spa day to have their hair, makeup and nails done or get a massage, where they won't have to worry about what is happening with their loved one and they can relax and put themselves and their needs first which can be such a luxury to some depending on how over stressed and exhausted they might be.

Respit care, my sometimes be covered under insurance if you know how to go about it. Respit care, does not have to be a specific amount of time or a specific activity. it can be 15 minutes to meditate, an hour massage, 30 minutes to take a nap or have lunch with a friend you haven't seen in a long time. Respit care, can even be a husband and wife going out to dinner and a movie to reconnect to make sure that their marriage stays strong through the challenges.

To find out more aobut your local Respit Care options, contact your local hospital Social Worker, or you can go to Ask Emily on our website and fill out the form and let us know your families situation and where you are located and we can do the research for you.