How to Give Respite Care

Thousands of families spend their lives giving to others and sometimes need a break of their own. Whether they are foster parents caring for underprivileged children or adults caring for elderly friends or family members they deserve a night or weekend away and you are just the person to give them that.

Instructions

1. Decide if you want to give respite care to elderly adults, disabled adults, children or all of the above. There is respite care available for all fields.

2. Determine what your rate of pay will be, if you ask for pay. Some respite workers do it out of the kindness of their hearts and for a chance to make a difference. Neither one is better than the other and no one should guilt you into doing this for free.

3. Find out if your state requires any special licensing, background checks, fingerprinting or medical tests to give respite care. You can do this by doing a search for your city and county's courthouse and calling and asking for information on giving respite care.

4. Locate families who need respite care for their families. Discuss beforehand the who you will be providing care for, the pay rate, how long they will be gone, when they need you and where you will provide care.

5. Meet with the families several weeks before the respite care time to understand what is expected of you and what you are getting involved with. At that time, if it is too much for you to handle, you need to say that. It's better to be honest than to get yourself involved in a situation that you cannot manage.

6. Show up on time and with the required items for your respite care. Have fun and enjoy your time with your clients. Know that you are doing something wonderful for someone else.