How to Make the Most of Respite Care for Family Caregivers

Being a caregiver is rewarding work, but it isn’t easy. Our professional caregivers need support and breaks to recharge and connect with their own friends and family.

It’s even harder for family caregivers, with higher stakes and more difficulty taking time off. That’s why it’s so important to take care of yourself. If you’re a family caregiver and you don’t have one already, make a resolution to build and stick to a good self-care routine this year.

Setting an intention to care for yourself is a good place to start, but to stick with it, you’ll need help. With regular, dependable support from a professional caregiver offering respite care, you can reconnect with the things that bring you joy and recharge your batteries, giving you the energy to show up as your best self for your loved one.

Here’s how respite care can make it possible:

What Respite Care Can Add to Your Life

Caring for an aging loved one puts you under intense, prolonged stress, and it takes a toll. Burnout is incredibly common among family caregivers, and to prevent it, you’ll need to take your own self-care seriously.

That’s easier said than done; unless you have a specific plan for how you’re going to care for yourself, your own needs are likely already falling by the wayside.

That’s where respite care comes in. By caring for your loved one in your place, respite care can give you the breathing room to rest and recuperate. 

Respite care doesn’t just offer a break from the hard parts of life, though. It also gives you the necessary bandwidth to focus on things that bring joy, meaning, and calm. Professional caregivers can give you the time and breathing room for things like:

• Hobbies and leisure activities.
• Community and social events.
• Taking a vacation.
• Returning to work.
• Reconnecting with friends over a cup of coffee or lunch
• Being there for your kids or grandkids
• Getting (and giving) help from other family caregivers through a support group.
• Spending time with your loved one as a family member rather than a caregiver.
• Taking a step back to get some clarity.

Arrange for Respite Care on a Regular Schedule

In order to stick to your self-care goals, you’ll need two things: A well-structured schedule and a reliable support system that protects that schedule from disruption. 

You’ll need to set these things up before you need them. If you try to do it when you’re already burnt out, it’s not likely to work.

How Family Caregivers Can Build a Self-Care Routine

If building a self-care routine were easy, you would have done it already. However, it’s not as hard as you might think once you know where to begin.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Lay out your existing weekly schedule. Note which scheduled items can be adjusted or moved and which can’t.
2. Find at least two slots during the week you can use to focus on yourself. Make one for things you have to do (like personal errands or your kids’ checkups), and the other for things you want to do (like hobbies, projects or social occasions).
3. If no such slots exist, find a way to move some of your more flexible scheduled items.
4. At the start of each week, review your schedule. Consider any potential barriers that might come up and how you can overcome them, and define what will go in each of your personal time slots.

Building personal time into your schedule can feel overwhelming at first, but the more you continue to maintain and follow it, the easier it gets. It can also help your loved one by setting clear expectations so they know what to be prepared for.

Get Support to Protect Your Schedule

After you’ve laid out your schedule, it’s time to get help protecting that self-care time. You can’t always tell when you’ll need support, so it’s best to arrange for help from friends, family and professional caregivers in advance. 

It’s easiest to schedule respite care when it’s a part of your regular routine. This has a host of benefits:

• It protects your personal time against disruptions, helping you go about your own plans with confidence.
• It makes it much more likely that the agency will be able to send the same caregiver for each visit, so they can build a bond with your loved one.
• It provides a sense of safety and calm for seniors with dementia, especially if you start care early so they can get to know their caregiver.
• It results in a more stable and sustainable routine, improving outcomes for your loved one and helping you avoid burnout.

A Few Respite Care Tips

Now that you know how respite care can help you meet your self-care needs, here are a few insider tips you can employ to make the most of respite care.

• Reach out with as much notice as possible.  If you’re holding off until you really need help, you already need it. When home care agencies have more notice before starting care, we’re better able to find a caregiver who’s the best long-term fit.
• Having the same time slot each week is better for everyone. In addition to ensuring you actually take that time off from caregiving, regular shifts are much easier to staff. It’s more likely your loved one will have the same caregiver for a longer time, allowing them to become more comfortable with their caregiver and routines.
• When arranging support from a caregiver, try to get someone to care for your pets if possible. For reasons like allergies, some caregivers can’t be in the presence of certain animals.

Respite Care Supports Self-Care

While caring for a senior can feel stressful and overwhelming, there are two powerful tools to avoid burnout: a structured schedule and outside support. Both of them require some setup in advance, so the time to start planning is right now.

The reliable caregivers at FirstLight Home Care of Greater Charlotte are here to help you build a schedule that actually works for your needs. They’ll offer your loved one the same loving care you would, giving you the chance to care for yourself properly.

Want help caring for your loved one sustainably? Contact us today.