The Reason Why Some UK Families Can't Get Respite Care

There are deserving families in the United Kingdom who are not taking advantage of respite care opportunities. They include kinship caregivers who are living in the home of the patient requiring. Quite frequently the patient is a child or adolescent and more often than not there are other children living in the household as well. Complicating matters is the introduction of other extended family members into the household. While these family members are taking advantage of the present resources, they are not always participatory when it comes to the care of the patient in the home.

What prevents UK families from seeking out respite care is often a bit of a mixed bag. In some cases they are eliminated from various charity programs because of the bottom line income the main breadwinner may bring home. Even if a lot of the money is eaten up by the medical care the patient receives and the remainder utilized to keep the household afloat, because the income falls outside the values set by the administrators of the charity funding the respite care, the family is automatically eliminated without so much as an appeals process in place.

In other cases the family may have a misconception about exactly what respite care entails and they may be too proud to accept charity or welfare. Not understanding that there is precious little welfare involved in accepting respite care even for only short term occasions, the primary kinship caregiver is often worn out and does not receive the time off and the rest and relaxation she or he needs to deal not only with the stress brought on by a loved one’s illness, but also with the stress connected to the constant provision of care in the home.

Remember that the home to most is a place of sanctuary where they may go and recharge, get away from a workplace environment that may be hostile, and overall find that they are safe, accepted, and loved. To family caregivers the home is transformed into a hospital environment where they are the only nurse on duty 24/7 without a break or rest. Failing to take advantage of respite care relief may have detrimental consequences not only for the caregiver but also for the patient benefiting from the at home care. There have been cases of child abuse, elder abuse and also domestic violence as a result of a caregiver who has simply reached the end of her or his rope and still has not sought out help.

In other cases it is the restriction of the actual respite care organization that prevents UK families from seeking out respite care to help with their homecare needs. Some agencies will not deal with children in the home as soon as they reach their 18th birthday, even though there is precious little chance that the child will ever move out of the home and be self sufficient. This leads to a group of parent caregivers who are underserved and as such at primary risk of not only offering substandard care, but who may also be at a heightened risk of receiving improper medical treatment for their own medical needs. This in turn leads to a dangerous risk of early death, the loss of family members, and of course the potential need to institutionalize the patient.