Dis/integrated care: family caregivers and in‐hospital respite care

Abstract

Nurses' practices in this study were a critical element in facilitating, or alternately constraining, family caregivers' ability to relinquish care and to take full advantage of the respite time. The research findings highlight the need for nurses and other formal caregivers to locate themselves in a secondary and supporting caregiving role, to acknowledge the family caregivers as the primary caregiver, and use family caregivers in-depth and intimate knowledge of the needs of their relative to inform care within the institutional setting.

Carers' Experiences with Overnight Respite Care. A Qualitative Study

“…This is contradictory to a literature review which found no evidence of deterioration of the elderly during respite care (10). Nevertheless, some other studies have shown functional decline of elderly during ORC, for example in Canada and New Zealand, deterioration of the elderly during respite care was an important reason why many carers did not take advantage of the respite time (21,27). One reason for our findings can be that the elderly were more frail than the care receivers in other studies as they were assessed to need NH care.…”

“…They were in great need of individually adjusted support to be able to continue their caregiving (4). In response to carers' need, respite care has been developed (5) to support carers by offering them temporary relief and assisting them in maintaining their relative at home (6). The purpose of overnight respite care (ORC) is twofold: to give the elderly more extensive care and/or training than possible at home, and to give carers temporary relief.…”

Systematic review of respite care in the frail elderly

“…Gilmour 171 The perception of the quality of service provision is central to a carer's decision to take up respite care, and impacts on many of the other issues discussed here. Even if respite use continues in the face of a perceived lack of quality the carer may not achieve an effective respite experience, as one carer in the Strang 205 study clearly states:…”

“…Furthermore, extra care was required at home to help the person regain their previous level of health. Gilmour 171 Being away from the one-to-one care given by the informal carer could also lead to loss of continence, which is a significant factor in the ability of carers to maintain the care recipient in the home environment. Other more serious health impacts included reports of a hip fracture resulting from a fall that went unnoticed and the need to admit one man to hospital because of a blocked catheter.…”

“…161,175,194,199 However, as the above quote suggests, respite was 161 going to the gym, going for walks and socialising with friends 157,171,199 and provided time to devote to the needs of the carer's own family. 212 Day care also allowed some carers to remain in employment, either paid or voluntary.…”