Respite care information for families

What is respite care?

Respite care is relief for families who are caring for someone with special needs: disabilities, chronic or terminal illness, aging or problems such as abuse or neglect. Respite care is short-term and temporary, lasting from a few hours to a month. Respite can take place once in a while, or be regularly scheduled care such as an after-school program.

Everyone needs time: time to complete tasks; time to do things that are fun and rewarding; time to simply relax; time to think about day- to- day plans, or to plan for dealing with major challenges. Without time for those things, anyone can become overwhelmed and exhausted. Families caring for someone with special needs need refreshing and energizing breaks. Respite is also very important to persons receiving care, regardless of their age or special need.

Respite care can be many things:

• a few hours to go shopping, see a movie, make appointments, or take a nap;
• a family vacation;
• being able to work or do volunteer activities outside the home;
• scheduling medical care that a parent or caregiver has been delaying;
• parents having rare time alone or with each other;
• spending valuable one-to-one time with siblings of a child with disabilities.

Each family determines how to use its own respite care, depending on each family's needs and resources and services available in the community. 

Some basic questions to consider are:

• What kind of respite do you need, and why?
  • In-home or Outside the home
  • Short-term (a few hours or a few days) or longer term (a week or more)
  • Would some combination of different types of respite be best for your family?
• What family concerns need to be considered (family vacations, stressful times at work, sibling concerns, etc.)?
• Do you already know someone who would be a good respite provider? If not, how do you find and select a respite care provider?
• How much can you afford to pay for respite care?
• If a parent cooperative is available, would you be interested and able to exchange care with other families?
• Are there particular qualifications that you expect in a respite provider?