What is Respite?

March 10 / 2006 by Kevin Marron

The Integrated Monitoring Process has begun for a number of respite services and this has provided the Department with the opportunity to re-classify services based on their current model of respite support. A desire to ensure that all funded agencies fit neatly into the Commonwealth & State MDS collection boxes.

Another member has recently informed me that following their IMF visit, the Department has indicated to them that 1 of their respite programs will be re-classified to a Social Support service type because it is a Peer Support model program.

As a sector it is important to keep stating that Respite Support is more than just In-Home care and Volunteer Host Family care, a narrow definition the Department is determined to enforce.

Respite Support is many things to many families. That is the way our industry has evolved over the last 15 years to provide a range of flexible respite support models that meet differing family/client needs. These include: Host Family, In Home Respite, Peer Support, Centre Based Respite Overnight Care, 1 to 1 out of home support, Respite packages, and other innovative & flexible means which provide a break or a support to the caring role and provide a respite effect. A respite service is different for every-one and is developed from needs expressed in a care plan. It can mean a combination of service types, in block form, or regularly on a weekly/fortnightly, monthly basis.

Peer Support is a legitimate model of respite care. Don’t forget that as service providers we have 2 clients, the carer and care recipient. Clients access our services and are eligible for support because there is a need for respite. Respite provides a break and a support to both clients. As providers we need to meet the needs of both clients.

You cannot have respite without a carer, and you cannot have respite without a care recipient. Both parties need to exist for a service to be provided.

Respite models such as Host Family, Peer Support, 1 to 1 Respite Options, provide a valuable social interaction & personal development for care recipients.

Social Support service type is merely a re-naming of the old Neighbour Aid service type. This can encompass home visits, support to clients with access to the community, and support to clients with accessing community facilities such as banks, shops, appointments, etc., as well as social group recreational activities for the target group.

It has no respite component or respite requirement.

The attempt to wipe out the Peer Support model from respite care is a devaluation of respite, a narrowing of its focus, and a strangulation of its flexibility.

Services that operate Peer Support models were originally funded to provide respite care. This model was a flexible means of providing a respite service to the carer, and valued social interaction & support for the care recipient. Their target group was defined, as carers and families requiring respite support. This change is now changing that target group, and the people your service has a focus on, for no logical reason.

It is important for services to realise that they have a right to maintain their focus, if they choose to, as a respite service, meeting the needs of the community, and meeting legitimate needs of carers and care recipients. In a strategic planning framework, it is the responsibility and right of an organisation’s Board and its members to determine if it wants to change the focus of its service delivery and the target group within its community to whom it will serve.

Meeting a respite need should be valued. Respite funding should move away from funding services to deliver specific models and be more broadly focussed on providing a respite effect. Services should have the flexibility to change how they meet those needs over time as the needs of their clients and community change.

Being classified as a Social Support service perpetuates this narrow focus of operation and limits legitimate respite providers on changing their service delivery models in response to changing client needs.