Caring for a loved one can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining.
If you’re caring for a family member or friend, it’s essential to maintain your health and well-being. Being at your best will hugely benefit you and the person you are caring for. It’s also one of the best benefits of respite care can help. It provides short-term care for your loved one, allowing you to take a break.
Respite care is one of the 4 levels of hospice care. Keep reading to find more about the important benefits of respite care and how it can help you as a caregiver.
1. Rest and Relax
It’s imperative that you have time to rest and relax. If you don’t rest enough, you risk exhaustion, depression, and breakdown.
Rest and relaxation have a powerful physical effect. It allows your body to calm down and function properly. It reduces your stress, heart rate, and blood pressure.
It also has tremendous mental benefits. When you rest, your body fights off toxins that could make you unwell. One of these toxins is cortisol, the hormone that your body produces when it is stressed.
This can hugely improve your mood.
One benefit of respite care gives you the time and opportunity to rest and relax. You can stay physically and mentally healthy and provide the best care possible to your loved one.
2. Stay Healthy
When caring for someone, it can be easy to prioritize their health needs and ignore your own. More than 20% of people say caregiving has made their health worse.
But that is not fair to you and may mean that you can’t give the level of care you would like to.
It’s crucial that you maintain your health. Another benefit of respite care is that it gives you the time to attend any medical appointments and look after yourself.
Another huge benefit of respite care also allows you to re-energize. You can’t run on empty. Taking time to increase your energy will make you feel better and help you be as effective and productive as possible.
3. Engage With Others
One in five caregivers feels alone. This social isolation can be a massive problem for caregivers and can hugely impact their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
It’s essential that you engage with other people. This can be family, friends, or new people.
Use the benefit of respite care to make this happen. Try having dinner with friends, going to a concert, or taking a vacation. Do things that you enjoy.
4. Maintain Your Identity
You may find that focus on caregiving and push your own needs and identity aside. It can be challenging to find a balance between caregiving and your personal life.
But you are important too. It’s vital that you maintain your sense of self.
A simple benefit of respite care is that it allows you to reclaim your identity. Engagement is a big part of this.
You can spend time doing other things you enjoy, like visiting friends and family or a hobby you find fun. This helps to maintain mental wellbeing, which will only benefit you and the person you are caring for.
5. Keep Things in Perspective
Space can sometimes be the best thing. Respite care means that you can step away from your caring duties for a little while. We need this once in a while and it’s also a sweet benefit of respite care.
This can help you to see things more clearly, and keep things in perspective. Things that felt overwhelming or impossible may begin to feel more manageable.
You can also think of things differently. You may think of better ways to do things or different resources to use.
This opportunity to keep things in perspective can be beneficial for you and the person you are caring for.
6. Assistance and Support
Caring for a loved one is incredibly difficult, demanding, and stressful. No one can do it without some help.
Caregivers need support. More than 60% of caregivers have said that they need help with caregiving questions or issues.
When you use respite care services, professionals can give you this help and support. They can answer any questions you have, talk to you about any of your concerns, and help make caring for your loved one a bit easier.
7. Reduce Tension
If you are caring for a loved one, you probably spend a lot of time together. It’s entirely natural for both of you to need a break from each other.
Also, another humongous benefit of respite care means that you can spend time with other people, doing things that you need or want to do. It also allows your loved one to meet and interact with someone different, which can be a positive and refreshing experience.
This time apart will help you both to feel re-energized and relieve any friction.
If you’re still on the fence on whether respite care services are the right option for you or your loved one, read our comprehensive guide to hospice care at home to learn more.
Where To Find Respite Care Services Near Me?
If you are caring for a loved one, you’re doing something amazing.
But you must make time to look after yourself. What’s good about the benefits of respite care is that it gives you the time, space, and opportunity to do just that. It will only help you and the person that you’re caring for.
Contact us now to find out more about our respite care services and how we can help you.
