When and Why You Need Respite Care as a Caregiver
There are about 44 million Americans who perform caregiving duties for older people and persons with disabilities. Most have no support and are not prepared or trained to provide appropriate care. More than a third of these caregivers provide complicated care while dealing with poor health themselves.
The negative effects of caregiving are so great that primary caregivers need to take necessary breaks from stressful caring tasks to safeguard their own health, both physically and emotionally. Here are some numbers you need to know regarding the downsides of caregiving:
1. Forty to seventy percent of caregivers show significant signs of depression.
2. Sixteen percent claim to be emotionally strained and twenty-six percent say caregiving is emotionally stressful.
3. Twenty-two percent go to bed exhausted and say that they are unable do all the needed caregiving tasks.
4. Reports of long-term health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis are twice as likely in caregivers as in non-caregivers.
5. Older caregivers (aged 66 and up) who provide care to their spouse have a 63% higher chance of death compared to non-caregivers of the same age.
The information above will be our basis for advising caregivers to seek respite care when they need it. Respite care is temporarily leaving your caregiving tasks to other people who are able do the job efficiently. The most important thing to remember is not to wait until the stress of the situation becomes overwhelming before you ask for help from others. The burden of the responsibilities can lead to sickness and emotional exhaustion as undesirable consequences.
Here are signs that you need take a break from caregiving as soon as possible:
1. Your patient needs more complicated care and your tasks keep adding up, giving you more responsibilities than you can handle.
2. You have not had complete and restful sleep for a long time, and you go about your work without short rest periods.
3. You skip meals most of the time, and you have no opportunity to prepare healthy foods for yourself.
4. You find yourself angry, frustrated, and tearful while providing care.
5. You feel like taking your frustrations out on your patient or other people.
6. You can barely remember when you last visited the doctor for your regular checkup.
7. You need to catch up with your family and other personal matters.
8. You are also otherwise employed, and juggle work and caregiving without any days off.
After acknowledging that you do need a break, the next step is to look for people or agencies who can take over caregiving tasks while you get your much-needed recharge. Consider family, friends, and neighbors who can share duties with you. Ask for a solid commitment, with the dates and times that they could help out.
You may choose to look for companions who can work either voluntarily or with pay. They could assist with meal preparation, housekeeping, and laundry as well as keeping the patient company. There are agencies that provide companion care.
Seek out the services of home health aides or personal care assistants who can do housekeeping tasks plus other services, such as assisting in the patient's activities of daily living (ADLs).
You may also consider adult daycare services that offer a safe and supervised environment while you are away. For those patients with more complex needs, assisted living facilities may be a better option, because they provide room and board as well as caregiving services around the clock.
Remember, before the stress of caregiving gets the best of you, seek respite care. You'll be glad you did.
