Respite care is a type of assistance that allows the family caregiver to take a break from care-giving. This type of care focuses on helping family caregivers recharge, ease their stress, and avoid caregiver burnout. Rather than spending time attending to daily duties, respite care provides assistance and support to the family caregiver. Keeping the caregiver healthy and supported results in higher quality time spent together. The longer a family member can provide appropriate care, the longer the loved one is able to stay comfortably at home.

Role of a Family Caregiver

The role of a family caregiver can be an honor and a privilege. Some caregivers acknowledge they enjoy having the opportunity to “repay” their parent by caring for them. Caring for a loved one can be a rewarding experience, but intense or long-term care can often have a negative impact on the caregiver’s health and well-being. This is especially difficult if you are a first-time family caregiver.These individuals often struggle with balancing their role as a caregiver with their own family’s needs, or caregiving and paid employment. This often leads to a situation where the caregiver feels overwhelmed and confused about what steps to take next in their caregiving journey combined with the effects of anticipatory grief, and may put the family caregiver at risk of:

• Psychological effects such as depression, anxiety, and anger
• Health related issues resulting from chronic stress, lack of sleep and/or physical exercise
• Personal financial problems
• Negative career consequences
• Drug/alcohol abuse
• Elderly abuse

In order to prevent the risks mentioned above, you should consider respite if you’re a caregiver.

Types of Respite Care

Respite care can be provided at home or in a long-term care facility. Care can be provided by friends, neighbors, family members, volunteers, or a home health care service provider.

Some examples of respite care services include:

• Personal Care
• Companionship
• Meal Preparation
• Medication Reminder
• Light Housekeeping
• Nursing

Respite care also benefits the person receiving care in the following ways:

• Developing and nurturing the care recipient’s social, recreational and life skills;
• Reducing stress and improving long-term functioning of both caregivers and care recipients;
• Preventing crisis situations and elder abuse.

Respite Resources are Available and Necessary for Family Caregivers

If you are a family caregiver, find some time this summer to focus on you. You deserve an extra hand or some time to take care of yourself.  Nano Home Care offers respite care and home health services that are individualized and designed especially for you. Contact us about home care services at 01 800 688 8688.

1. Ask the senior how you can be most helpful

• What do they need daily?
• What tasks are difficult for them?
• Do they have regular weekly or monthly appointments – hair, physician etc. that they need transportation to and from?

2. Talk to the senior’s physician

• If the senior is willing to give you written permission, or you are the health care proxy, ask the physician to update you about the senior’s health. You can also discuss this with your loved one, but often seniors will hide information about their health condition for fear of losing their independence. You need to know exactly what the health impairments are in order to address them appropriately.
• If you do not have permission or are not the health care proxy the physician cannot, by law, release private medical information to you. However, he or she may be willing to suggest the types of support that think will be most helpful.

3. Talk to friends, family members, neighbors of your loved one

• Can a schedule of support and help be created?
• Can a neighbor’s child take out the garbage or walk your loved one’s dog?
• Can a sibling who lives close by take your loved one grocery shopping?
• Can neighbors or family members check in the senior regularly, especially during extreme hot and cold weather?
• Make sure everyone has all your phone numbers, your e-mail and other contact information.

4. Rely on local resources

There are many organizations that provide support for seniors. You can find the ones in your loved one’s area by checking these sources of information:

• Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116 (toll-free)
• National Institute on Aging website
• Family Care Navigator
• Your state government’s website, search for “elder care”, “senior care”, or “INSERT STATE NAME Executive Office of Elder Affairs.”

Home Care agencies can also be a great resource to rely on. Certified, professional home caregivers can take care of your loved one and keep you updated on their condition.

5. Keep detailed records

• Create a 3-ring binder in which you can keep notes, medical records, insurance information, calendars and even printed copies of emails. This will be a great help to you as the care of your loved one becomes more complex
• Include contact information for all physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, case managers and specialists, like physical therapists
• Make copies for all those involved in the support and care of your loved one and keep the records updated

The National Institute for Aging is a great resource for information on long-distance caregiving. They have two downloadable publications:

• Long-Distance Caregiving: Twenty Questions and Answers
• Long-Distance Caregiving—A Family Affair

The NIH also has a webpage dedicated to caregiving. It is a rich source of information that lists numerous books, fact sheets and information pages on a wide range of issues involved in caregiving. Last week, we published a piece on how to manage the Emotional impact of Long-Distance Care – an aspect of caring for your loved one that you don’t want to miss.

Here are four ways in which you can help your loved one to avoid falls.

1. Practice daily strengthening exercises:

Balance and coordination can be greatly improved through exercise. Exercise that improves strength, reaction time, and aerobic capacity is the best way to maintain strong muscles and balance. The most effective exercises can be integrated into activities of daily living and focus on balance and strength building. Here are some examples, though they should be carried out as appropriate for the senior’s current strength and balance:

• Hold onto the sink and stand on one leg while brushing teeth.
• While talking on the telephone, hold onto the wall and lean to one side, then the other to improve balance.
• While putting laundry away, bend the knees and then straighten the legs to build muscle strength.

2. Make home modifications to prevent falls:

Making the house “fall-proof” includes assessing everything from lighting inside and outside the home to interior rugs. It is important to remove clutter and throw rugs from high-traffic areas and stairs. Make sure that each light fixture has the highest watt bulb possible. Place things in easy reach for your loved one in order to avoid reaching or climbing on chairs. Home modifications can also include encouraging your loved one to wear non-slip footwear in the house and not to walk around in stocking feet!

3. Look at your loved one’s medications:

Medications, especially antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can cause dizziness and fall hazards. Check with your loved one’s physician and ask specifically about the side effects of each medication your loved one takes on a regular basis.

Some medications may help to prevent falls. The CDC reported a study that found that vitamin D and calcium supplements may help to prevent falls. The study found that over women who took vitamin D and calcium supplements over a three year period were 46% less likely to fall compared to women who did not take the supplements. Before giving your loved one supplements check with your loved one’s physician. Supplements can interfere with the efficacy of prescription medications.

4. Beware of bifocals.

It has long been suspected that bifocals may contribute to the danger of falls for seniors. A recent study confirms that, saying that “…wearers of multifocal glasses have a high risk of falls when outside their homes and when walking up or down stairs.” The study also found that multifocal and bifocal glasses impair depth perception and make it more difficult to navigate steps and raised surfaces. When researchers provided seniors with single lens distance prescriptions to wear outdoors, falls were decreased by 40%. It pays to have two pair of glasses for your loved one; a single lens pair with a distance prescription for walking up or down outdoor stairs, in shopping centers or unfamiliar buildings, and bifocals as needed at home.

Have you found any helpful ways to prevent falls at home for your loved one? If so we would be interested in hearing about them. Every home environment is as different as each senior and sharing helpful tips helps all of us to prevent dangerous falls.

Noticing the Signs

Loved ones might notice that there are missed doctor’s appointments or that medications are left untaken. You may have observed failing hygiene, household chores left undone, or house pets or plants that aren’t tended to as well as they should be. All of these can be initial indicators that home care assistance could be beneficial. More severe signs may be distracted driving, difficulty remembering names, dates, or addresses, or that already present safety and health concerns become more acute.

Although discussing home health care might be uncomfortable or embarrassing, such assistance can help encourage a greater sense of independence, aid with transportation and mobility, and can help to ensure that health care needs are met promptly and with appropriate attentiveness and urgency. A single awkward conversation can be the first step to getting your loved one the help they need.

Full or part-time services are often all that are necessary. Staffing agencies can often be the easiest approach, since they locate the caregivers, handle payroll taxes, and perform all administrative work and conduct background checks. This is a relatively easy way to find qualified and verified home health care professionals. Another option is that you would hire a nurse or other caregiver directly. This would place the burden of performing the background check, as well as verifying references and credentials, on you. You would also be responsible for payroll taxes, Social Security withholding, etc., which can often seem a bit overwhelming. However, it’s possible that it could also save you money. It will ultimately be up to you to decide what’s best and to ensure that your loved one’s needs are met.