All caregivers deserve room to breathe — even you!
As a primary caregiver, you carry a lot on your shoulders — from meals and hygiene to healthcare and wellness — and much of your day is dedicated to the care of your loved one. However, too often, your dedication to caring for a sick, aging, or disabled family member comes at the expense of your own self-care, and your personal well-being.
Understanding primary caregivers often sacrifice their own needs for those of the loved ones in their care led to UCFS developing a service to address the need for caregiver relief — the respite room. A respite room at UCFS’ Sheltering Arms Residential Care facility in Norwich offers short-term respite care in a supervised, safe environment for periods of one week or more. This around-the-clock care offers you, the primary caregiver, peace of mind so you can confidently take a vacation, or take care of other personal, health, and wellness needs.
Preventing caregiver burnout
Caregiver burnout is a real thing — and no one experiencing it should feel guilty about being overwhelmed. More than 40 million Americans provide unpaid care to an adult or child, and according to the AARP Public Policy Institute research report “Caregiving in the U.S. 2020,” 21% of these caregivers feel their health in general has gotten worse as a result of their caregiving responsibilities. According to a 2020 survey by the American Psychological Association, 66% of responding caregivers for older adults reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health symptom.
Caregiver relief solutions
Sheltering Arms Residential Care may help avoid — or lessen — these detrimental impacts to your health and offer some room to breathe. A short-term stay in a respite room will put your loved one under the care of compassionate staff in a private room and private bathroom with comprehensive accommodations. These services include medication management, housekeeping, laundry service, companionship, seasonal menus providing home cooked meals, and social activities — helping them stay active and engaged throughout their visit.
Knowing that you have support for temporary relief — such as a respite room at Sheltering Arms Residential Care — is likely comforting, and may help ease some of the stress associated with the responsibility of being a primary caregiver.
So, armed with the confidence that your loved one will be cared for by highly-trained staff, in a safe and nurturing environment — you can take that vacation, schedule that medical procedure you’ve been putting off, or just give yourself (and your loved one) room to breathe. You’ve earned it.
Respite Room Features
Private Room + Bath
Medication Management
Housekeeping + Laundry Services
Home-Cooked Meals with Seasonal Menus
Social Activities + Companionship
Check out the criteria for admissions here, or contact us for your own personal tour.