I have gone to my friends at "azspouse" to bounce an idea off them and really gotten an overwhelmingly positive response. Some of you know that I took care of my husband for the last 7 years from some degree to doing everything. Well, I am considering doing respite care for people like us that would like to just get out for a few hours for a break and have no one to help them out. Basically I am looking for people who want 3-hour breaks and would pay $50 for that whenever they could afford it...kinda like a spa-day, if you know what I mean. The last 3 years of my husband's life I did everything for him. All he could do is walk, although there were times when we had to carry him (after visits to the ER when I let them administer sedatives or anesthesia). I never resented it, although it was overwhelming at times. I just always put myself in his shoes and imagined the situation from his perspective. I am still in the formative stages, but would like your input also. Realistically, I did caregiving better than I ever did anything else in my life and it would be a way to help others who are in a situation that I was once in and have the extreme advantage of going home after those 3 hours.
Linda Mc*, I think that would be a wonderful idea and a help to so many people who need the respite but have no one to stay with their LO. It is so kind and generous that you would be willing to continue the journey with Alzheimer's/dementia now that you are freed from caregiving. And who ever hired you would be getting someone with the best experience.
I think it would be a wonderful idea....but make sure they sign a waver for any litigation in case something happens ie spouse falls while you are caring for him/her.
What can I say, Nikki? It just sort of came to me. I guess everyone has a calling. Why would God give me a husband with Alzheimer's if there were no future in it or good to be done with it?
My husband fell and died 5 days later. He was in my daughter's care while I went to the store. Should I sue her????? Accidents happen. It is just a damn shame I will need to screen the person I am working for more than the one I am working with. I guess I will just have to judge because truth is, I don't have to do any of it...I just want to. So if anyone is looking to make a fast buck on their LO's misfortune...don't call me!!!!! Why are some people such killjoys!!
Linda, new wife Joyce and I are volunteer respite providers in a program called Project Relief run by our local Brevard Alzheimer's Foundation -- up to four hours once a week for client families, but we had to be extensively vetted, fingerprinted, etc. and go through lots of training before being assigned clients, and there is a long list of do's and don'ts, deriving from concerns about liability. You might wish to Google this program for ideas. And good for you for wanting to help in this way!
Linda, the world needs more people like you. Part of the reason I can only get a few hours of respite a month are because the agency that supplies the "babysitters" has more demand than they have people willing to do the "work". I wish you all the best.
I have worked 40 years in the health care field and I have seen bad things happen to good people with the best intentions. As soon as you start charging you are a business with all the pros and cons that go with it.
I agree with the others - trust but verify, I guess. If you are going to make money at doing it - and I agree, you'd be fantastic at doing it - there will always be one person (out of many many) who will try to sue if their demented has a hangnail they didn't see before they left home.
Years ago (some of you may remember) I hired a bus to take people to NYC for the day from Rhode Island. Did this for 20 years or thereabouts. I made very little money on it - enough to cover the cost of the bus and my own tix to a Broadway show - but at the beginning of every year I had people sign a waiver saying that I was not responsible if they got themselves mugged or whatever. I would keep the waiver all year and didn't expect them to do it every month (6 trips a year, and many went repeatedly) but I did get that waiver.