The Importance of Relief (respite) Care

Help from professional caregivers at home offers critical support to families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. Families need to take advantage of caregiver support services so they can continue to provide the care that is needed.

  

• Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease can be a 24/7 job.  Family members need to make sure to take care of their own needs so they can continue to help those that they love.

• Despite the intensity of caregiver duties, only 12 percent of families have used in-home care service.  However, the need is greater

• For most families, in-home care resources may be unavailable, unaffordable or difficult to identify.[1]  Hilarity for Charity and Home Instead want to make sure that as many families as possible can experience the benefits of this support service and have created the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Relief Grant Program, home care for families brought to you by Home Instead Senior Care and Hilarity for Charity 

• Caregiver support has been shown to improve family functioning, improve satisfaction with life, enhance the capacity to cope with stress, and improve attitudes toward the family member in need.

• Seventy-two percent of the family caregivers who engage in-home care rated their relationships with the seniors as “good” or “very good,” while only 58 percent of those whose seniors were not using such services did so.[2]

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[1] National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP (2009), “Caregiving in the U.S” (http://www.caregiving.org/data/Caregiving_in_the_US_2009_full_report.pdf)

[2] Home Instead Senior Care Paid In-Home Care (http://www.homeinstead.com/Documents/BENEFITTING%20THOSE%20WITH%20ALZ%20AND%20DEMENTIA.pdf)