Solutions
To Your Caregiving Situations
Throughout Your Caregiving Years
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Managing The Stress ~ Making The Decisions ~ Discovering The Meaning |
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Solutions To Your Caregiving Situations Throughout Your Caregiving Years |
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Weekly Caregiver Tip (April 17, 2000) Respite care options Spring has sprung! With the arrival of warm weather, you may begin thinking about a summer getaway. Which automatically leads to the question: Who will take care of my care recipient in my absence? As you weed through literature and brochures planning your glorious getaway, take time now to investigate care options in your community for your care recipient. A careful search will cultivate a decision that will allow you a (somewhat) guilt-free vacation. Home Health Agencies: Most agencies have 24-hour staff available. You can contract for a companion, home health aide, or registered nurse (depending on the care needs of your care recipient) to provide round-the-clock care. If your care recipient can afford it, this might be his or her first choice because it allows for the comfort of home. Be sure to call at least three different agencies to determine costs and type of staff available. Also, contact your local senior citizen center, which may be able to refer you to persons interested in such a temporary position. If your care recipient lives in his own home, but depends on you daily for help with medications or meal-preparation, then a home health aide or companion should be able to fill your place in your absence. Although your care recipient will miss you, he or she will welcome a new face and a new visitor. Area Agency on Agencies: Contact your local Area Agency on Aging to learn about community programs, such as Meals on Wheels and adult day care centers, that can meet your care recipient's needs while you vacation. Often, you can order Meals on Wheels for as many, or as few, days as you need. With Meals on Wheels, you'll know that your care recipient will eat at least one good meal a day and that a volunteer will be checking daily on your care recipient. Adult day care might be an option for a care recipient that lives alone. Often, the centers can provide transportation for their clients. As with Meals on Wheels, adult day care centers usually can be used as little or as often as the care recipient needs. Costs are quite reasonable and usually include a meal. Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes: Assisted living facilities and nursing homes can be an option if your care recipient lives with you, or if you will worry about your care recipient alone in his own home. Nursing homes have respite stay policies, which allow residents to stay for short-term placement only. You may have to contact a few nursing homes, however, before you'll find one that will admit for long weekends; most have policies that allow for a minimum of one week stays. A good facility will be flexible and try to adjust their admission policies to meet your needs. After all, you--and your care recipient--should be considered a potential long-term customer. They should treat you as such. Be sure to contact nursing homes by phone first. You'll want to find out which facilities can accommodate a short-term stay and which facilities are within your care recipient's budget. As with home health agencies, be sure to visit at least three nursing homes. If possible, your care recipient should also make the visit. As a former nursing home admissions director, I worked with many family members on short-term placements, many times so the family caregiver could take a vacation. I can guarantee that every caregiver felt horribly guilty about leaving their care recipient in a nursing home. But, I never let one caregiver change their mind. "Go, go," I would tell them. "Don't worry. Just have a great time!" Why? Because by the time the caregivers returned from their vacations, they were well-rested and relaxed from a holiday they wished would never end. If they had given into their guilt, they would have missed a wonderful opportunity. As for the care recipients, well, usually they received lots of attention from the staff and loved it. Of course, it's never home, but we all need the break in routine provided by new surroundings. It makes all of us appreciate home that much more. Other family members: Be sure to talk with other family members about your plans. Ask if they can help out in your absence. Let them know you are taking a well-deserved break, what the care options are available for your loved one, and what they can do to help. If family members aren't able to help, stick to your original plans for a vacation. Your community offers other options and, more importantly, you deserve a holiday. When you've found a respite option that works best for your care recipient, and you've finalized your trip, your care recipient may take you on another, not-so-fun vacation: The Guilt Trip. "Well, I hope you have fun while I'm here all by myself," you may hear day after day, particularly the day before your departure. Here's your mantra, a phrase you can repeatedly tell your care recipient: "I love you. I will miss you. I will see you in two weeks." Hard to argue with that! |
The
Caregiving Years: |
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© Tad
Publishing Co. 2000 |
