Respite Home Care Services, Family Caregiver Relief

Posted by: Eric

If a family member takes care of a loved one on a regular basis, but occasionally needs outside help, they can find it from a Vida Senior Resource Certified In Home Senior Care Agency.  This outside help is called respite care services, and it is designed give a break to the family member providing care for their disabled or aging loved one.  In fact respite care services are most commonly used to enable family caregivers to have a break so they can take a vacation, or even go out for a night, without worrying about their loved one being alone.  There are even senior grants available for the explicit purpose of respite care services.

I remember one case when my non-medical home care agency was able to assist a gentleman who was taking care of his mother before and after work. I had happened to meet him at the grocery store.  As we talked, I explained what I did, and he started to tell me about his mother.  Then he told me that he would be going on a cruise for 10 days the following month.  He was worried about leaving his mother alone for that period of time, since she was unable to leave the house or even make her own meals.  I told him that we would be able to help his mother while he was gone, and make sure she bathed and ate.  He said that sounded great but wondered how much it would cost him.  I responded by saying that I believed we could get his mother approved for a grant to pay for the services.

The office staff from my agency met with the gentlemen and his mother at their home, helped them fill out the senior respite grant application, and even mailed it in for them.  Within a week the family received word back from the organization providing the senior grant that not only did his mother qualify, but that she had already been approved.

The next month, the gentlemen was able to go on his cruise without worrying whether or not his mother was ok.  Our agency was able to provide Senior Home Care with no out of pocket expense for the family.  When he arrived home from vacation, the gentlemen came in to the office to tell us how much he appreciated the help we provided him, and to let us know that he would happily recommend us to anyone else who needed our services.  His mother also told us that she loved her caregiver, and she scheduled her to continue services for two days every week.