Respite care at assisted living can be incredibly beneficial for elderly men and women. Unfortunately, most seniors aren’t even aware that assisted living offers respite care options. Respite care is basically short-term care. But, isn’t assisted living a permanent solution? That’s what many people assume, and to some degree they’re right. When a senior moves into assisted living, it’s not generally for a few months. This for several years or the rest of their life, depending on their needs and desires.
Respite Care
Yet, many assisted living communities — especially the high-quality ones — will offer respite care options for seniors in their community. That means, depending on the facility, a senior might be able to spend the evenings and nights there, being dropped off later in the day and picked up early in the morning. That could be a great solution for somebody who struggles with their overnight care at home, or who live alone.
Or seniors may be able to stay at assisted living community during the day for several days a week. Similar to daycare, seniors have somewhere to go while family members or other family caregivers are at work. Other facilities may offer seniors the option of staying there for a week or two while their caregivers are out of town on business or on vacation.
Some assisted living communities do offer several weeks or couple of months of short-term stays. There are many benefits this offers elderly men and women, so let’s look at a few now.
Benefit #1: It Gives Them a Safe Place to Live
They may very well be safe at home, but if their physical abilities have declined, they aren’t as safe as they used to be. They may have an adult child, spouse, or other loved one checking in on them and supporting them when they need help, but if those individuals are away for a while, then respite care at assisted living could be the great option that keeps them safe.
At a quality assisted living community, the staff are highly trained to help residents stay safe, providing a number of physical supports and even reminders when it comes to medications and other topics of interest.
Benefit #2: It Surrounds Them With Help
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and having a difficult time just getting out of bed because of arthritis or other physical ailments. Normally, you might be fine on your own, but one night things are just not going your way.
Imagine being able to call for help and it arriving within minutes. That’s what you can get from assisted living and when it comes to short-term care, and that can help seniors realize the benefit of a long-term assisted living stay option.
Benefit #3: It Allows Connection With Other Seniors
Most people crave connection with others. Yet, they spend the majority of their life in those golden years alone. For a senior who hasn’t considered assisted living before for one reason or another, a short-term stay could connect them with other seniors who share common interests, friends they haven’t seen in years, and help them realize it would truly be a great option moving forward.
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