While caring for your senior loved one is rewarding enough, you don’t want to neglect your own health and well-being. If you do, caregiver stress and overwork will literally kill you.

Did you know that caregivers are twice more likely to develop chronic health issues like heart disease, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, arthritis and cancer than non-caregivers? As if that isn’t bad enough, severe stress from nonstop caregiving can shave 10 years off your life!

That’s a big no-no.

Lucky for you, that’s where respite care services can come in especially handy. It’s a no-brainer way to take some pressure off of you, and protect yourself from caregiver burnout and overwhelm.

In this brief guide, we’ll walk you into the fabulous world of respite care – what it is, its key benefits to caregivers, where to find them, and associated costs.

What’s Respite Care?

When you’re caring for an older adult, it’s often an around-the-clock job. But, you naturally need to take a break from time to time to take care of your own health and well-being. That’s where respite care come into the picture.

It’s simply a service where caregivers get a break from caring for a senior. Respite care professionals can care for an older adult on your behalf for a limited time (usually less than 30 days). It can take place in your home or at an assisted living facility.

Either way, respite care offers a myriad of benefits for both the caregiver and the older adult.

Benefits: Why Respite Care?

(1) Take a much-needed break: respite care can come to your rescue when you’re out-and-out overwhelmed by caregiver burnout and stress.

(2) Gives you space to deal with your own health problems: if you’re having a health crisis, respite care can provide you with an opportunity to resurge before resuming caregiving.

(3) It’s a great way to try out a particular assisted living community before you permanently move your senior loved one.

(4) Allows your older adult to receive a high level of care after a surgery or hospital stay

(5) It provides you with time to attend to personal matters or family events

Where to Find Respite Care?

Time-limited respite care services are typically provided by nursing care homes and assisted living facilities across the country. Of course, not all respite care facilities are created equal.

What to look for in a respite care service?

• Your senior loved should get the personalized care he or she needs 24/7
• A completely furnished room, complete housekeeping, and laundry service
• 3 meals a day
• Help with medication and personal care (dressing, bathing, grooming, toileting, etc.)
• Plenty of fun social activities, games, and outings

What’s the Cost of Respite Care?

While Medicare usually doesn’t cover respite care, it can take care of 95% of the costs for up to 5 days stay if the facility is part of the hospice program. Even still, the cost of respite care does vary based on the level of care required, type of facility, and location.

According to recent stats, however, you can expect to shell out an average of $235 per day for respite care in a nursing care facility or $123 daily in the case of an assisted living community.