FINDING RESPITE CARE: Friends & Family
Sometimes the best place to find help is from those who know you best
BY:FRAN SILVERMAN
When you need respite, where can you turn for help? Many caregivers are hesitant to admit they might need a break for fear they will have to burden someone else with their loved one's care. Often they are also overwhelmed at the prospect of finding someone they trust who can provide temporary care.
Caregivers should first look to family and friends for help. "You need to be able to talk to family members," says Suzanne Mintz, president of the National Family Caregivers Association. "It's their loved one, too.''
As the primary caregiver, set up a schedule with other family members who can relieve you so you can take a vacation or get out once a week for respite. Friends may also be able to pitch in and help.
Here are a few other ideas:
Turn to online care organizers, such as Caringbridge.org or Carecircle.com. Through them, you can set up a caregiving network for those interested in helping. The caregiver, the patient or friends can participate in organizing a schedule through an interactive calendar at these websites. There is often a small fee to set up the support network, but caregivers might also have access to it for free through an employee-assistance program or a work-life program at their jobs. Janice Gallick, co-founder of Carecircle.com, said she has also been talking with insurance companies to cover the caregiver's or patient's costs of setting up a network.
Use the Share the Care method. Share the Caregiving, Inc., helps you learn to connect volunteers who want to organize a network of friends and family to care for an ill individual. Through its "Share the Care" handbook, which was written by Sheila Warnock and the late Cappy Capossela, who suffered from a deadly brain tumor, the book lays out a model of how to organize a caregiver network, thereby reducing the load on the individual. Click here for the organization's website, or call (646) 467-8097.
Reach out to your religious community. Through your church, synagogue or temple—or even non-religious community-service groups—seek out volunteers who can help when you're in need of respite. The Faith in Action Caregivers Alliance works with congregations to find volunteers who can visit homes. It operates 1,000 programs across the country, with 75,000 volunteers assisting 150,000 people (although these volunteers do not provide medical assistance). Click here for their website or call (877) 324-8411.