When You Struggle to Care for an Aging Parent, an Assisted Living Facility May Offer Short-Term Solutions

February 9, 2022 by ·

Elderly Care in Mobile ALStress can get to just about anyone at any time. Just because you may be looking after your elderly mother, something you view as your responsibility, doesn’t mean you can escape the stress this type of work can impose on you.

Too many people assume that taking care of an elderly parent, grandparent, or even a spouse is their job, something they have to do. Despite everything else going on in their lives, they take on this incredibly important responsibility, and then struggle, often in silence.

Yes, you might have spoken to your best friend, your sibling, your own spouse, and others who will listen, but despite everything you said, nobody seems to do anything to help out. If only you had a break, even just once in a while.

Assisted living may offer respite care services.
This is something many people overlook. They simply have no idea that assisted living can offer respite care services. They incorrectly assume that assisted living is for full-time, permanent care solutions.

Not all assisted living communities will offer respite care services, but for those that do, it could be exactly what family caregivers need to reduce stress, relieve the physical or emotional toll and pressure on their life, and be the support an aging senior needs.

What does it mean to have respite care services? It often means short-term or even temporary care. In other words, depending on the facility and what they offer, an aging senior could spend a few days, even if it is only a few days during the week for several weeks at an assisted living facility.

Some facilities may offer overnight stay options, meaning the senior can be dropped off in the late afternoon or early evening hours, just in time for dinner, or even after dinnertime, and then sleep in one of the rooms so there is a staff member ready to help if they need any level of assistance during those overnight hours, and then be picked up in the morning.

Other assisted living communities may even provide longer term stays that don’t require an indefinite commitment. In other words, an aging senior could spend two weeks or even three weeks at an assisted living facility while their family members, their direct support go on vacation, take some time for themselves, refresh and recharge.

Contact an assisted living community to find out what they offer.
Every assisted living facility is different, so it is important not to get caught up in this idea they all offer the same services, activities, and supports. When you find an assisted living facility that does provide respite care services, it could be exactly what you and the senior in your life need to either regroup, recharge, take a break, separate from one another because the stress and pressure is having a negative impact on your life and your relationship.

Connect with an administrator from a local assisted living facility now and find out what respite care options may be available with them.

If you or an aging loved one are in need of short term care near Mobile, AL, contact Ashbury Manor Specialty Care and Assisted Living at 251-317-3017 today!

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About Cindy Johnson

Ashbury Manor’s Administrator since 2008, Cindy Johnson is a long-time expert in the assisted living field. Prior to her arrival at Ashbury Manor, Cindy managed acquisitions and crisis management for existing and new larger senior care project developments for eleven years. As regional manager for an Oregon-based assisted living management company, Cindy was directly responsible for operations for five 50-65 bed assisted living facilities. As manager during the transition to new ownership, Cindy reorganized internal operations and conducted leadership training for Executive Directors. As a result of her management and expertise, one of the company’s facilities (in Ocala, Florida) received a deficiency-free survey, resulting in the lifting of a moratorium on operation.

A nurse for 36 years, senior care has always been Cindy’s passion. Desiring to work more closely with residents, Cindy became a Category II Administrator in 2005. As Ashbury Manor’s Administrator, Cindy understands the complexities associated with dementia and cognitive impairment and she has fallen in love with seniors with dementia or cognitive impairment and their families.

Cindy is Treasurer of the local “Senior Coalition” chapter. She enjoys mentoring new candidates who want to become administrators.

As a 16-bed facility, with Cindy's training and experience, our residents and their families can be sure Ashbury Manor’s carefully selected staff provides the expertise of a larger facility while maintaining the individualized personal care of a small special needs home.
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