Considering Respite Care This Holiday Season

Home Care Blog>In Home Care  |  November 15, 2019

What is Respite Care?

Considering Respite Care This Holiday Season | Respite care is the temporary transfer of a primary caregiver’s responsibilities to someone else, who is usually a professional caregiver or another family member or friend. Primary caregivers will, at some point throughout their caregiving, need relief. Whether it be a few hours a day, once a week, or for a longer period of time, having someone available for respite care is crucial to your caregiver’s health.

What You Should Know When Caring for a Loved One

While it can be rewarding to care for a loved one, many caregivers find that their care declines in quality when they themselves become sick or unwell. Caring for another person is important, but it’s also good to remember to take care of yourself as well. This is especially important if your loved one has a long-term or severe illness. When someone you love needs 24/7 care, it can be hard to take time for yourself.

Comfort Keepers, along with Clear Care, partnered with Stanford Center on Longevity and Stanford University Psychology Department on a study about older family caregivers and their wellbeing.

They found several things – first, caring for someone with a mild illness had an emotional wellbeing greater than that of young adults, and that emotionally, they felt the same as their peers. However, when caring for someone with a severe illness, the caregiver had a lower sense of well-being than their peers. Researchers were able to make a connection between the lower sense of well-being and the inability to pursue one’s own goals and hobbies. So, while caring for someone with a mild illness did not negatively affect the caregiver’s well-being, caring for someone with a more severe illness did.

Caregivers can have a lot of stress on their shoulders, especially when they have to sacrifice their career or lifestyle. However, many caregivers feel like caregiving gives them a sense of purpose and can bring a lot of fulfillment to their lives – as long as they are able to take the time to care for themselves and their own needs.

If you’ve been caring for a family member and are feeling stressed or burnt out, hiring a respite caregiver can be a great way to ensure that your loved one is still getting the care they need while giving yourself a much-needed break.

Considering Respite Care This Holiday Season? Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers^®, we understand that it can be a tough transition of trusting someone else to care for your loved one. Here at Comfort Keepers, we want to make sure that you’re confident in our ability to care for your family member. Each care recipient gets a customized care plan to ensure that they get the highest quality care possible.

We create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

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