Breaks

Caring for someone can be a ‘24 hour a day, seven days a week’ job. To help with this, many carers need a break to give them some time away from looking after someone.  Breaks, sometimes called respite care, allow carers some time to:

• take part in work, learning or leisure,
• pursue their own interests,
• to do essential things for themselves like attend appointments or
• to take a break to rest or sleep or ‘recharge their batteries’.

Breaks can be arranged so that the person you look after is cared for either at home or away from home.  

This can be:

• for just for a few hours, as in the case of a sitting service or day care;
• for longer periods of time, such as a short overnight stays in a residential or nursing home; and
• either as a one off or on a regular basis.

To give you more control and choice, you may be able to arrange your own breaks through use of direct payments.

Even if you feel you do not need breaks now, it may be helpful for you to know what is available and how to arrange these on either a planned or an emergency basis.

Breaks can also be of benefit to the person being looked after, offering them ‘space’ and perhaps the opportunity to meet others.