Why you should consider respite care at home over Christmas
Respite care is short-time support delivered by a carer different from your usual one, whether a family member or professional. Respite care traditionally suggests that you go to a residential or care premises to be looked after outside of your own home, but that isn’t necessary if you’d prefer to stay where you’re most comfortable. At Helping Hands, we specialise in delivering care in our customers’ own homes, whether that’s short or long-term. We have experience in caring for a wide range of different conditions, such as dementia or cancer, as well as supporting people who have been injured, are living with age-related frailties, or are approaching the end of their life.
Giving your loved ones a break over Christmas
While your loved one is undoubtedly happy to support you, it’s important that they get the opportunity to relax and forget about their responsibilities now and again, and one of those times is at Christmas. Perhaps they would like to go away over the festive season or spend time visiting other family members away from where they live. They’ll obviously be concerned that your care continues as you want and follows your routines, and that’s where we can be of real reassurance. Our carers will support you in your own home on either a visiting or live-in basis, and because we devise everyone’s care package to their personal specifications, there will be a seamless transition when we begin.
You get to be cared for by someone different
‘Variety is the spice of life’ so we’re told, and while you no doubt love seeing your loved ones coming to your home and caring for you, it can be fun to have a different face greeting you in the mornings occasionally. Our carers will help you out of bed with a smile or bring you your breakfast with a cheery word of encouragement, and they will ensure your care is consistently delivered until your loved-ones return. It could also be that you’re usually cared for by another care company and want to try someone different for a while; whatever the reasons, we’ll make sure that your care continues just as you want it to.
Emotional as well as physical support
The care that we deliver doesn’t just cover your physical and practical care needs, we’ll also help to support your mental well-being and the emotional needs of your family. You may be approaching the end of your life and your family need some extra support to deal with what they’re going through, or perhaps your condition is less serious, but you prefer your care delivered a certain way. We offer a person-centred holistic approach to your care, which means we consider your emotional and spiritual needs as well as your practical levels of care.
You can take a holiday over the Christmas period
Maybe you’ve always wanted to visit somewhere warm and exotic over Christmas and New Year? Just because you need an extra level of care and support doesn’t mean your travel dreams have to be abandoned. By having a Helping Hands carer accompany you on your trip you’ll get the superior levels of support you need, while still sampling all the luxuries that the ship, resort, or hotel has to offer. Our carers are flexible and will support you with every aspect of your care, whether it’s medication, mobility, or personal care, plus keeping your surroundings tidy and to your particular standards.
Organising respite care at Christmas
Call our friendly customer care team
We have a team of customer care specialists available to talk to you seven days a week, so you’ll never be left wondering when you can talk to someone about your care needs. Our team are available until 8pm most days giving you or your loved ones plenty of opportunity to pick up the phone and chat to a helpful advisor.
Pop into your local branch
Our branches are run by a welcoming team of care experts who will be happy to see you or your loved ones, and with extended opening hours in some of our locations, it’s worth checking out where you can find us. We also have many dementia-friendly branches that have been rated highly by the Alzheimer’s Society, as well as tea and biscuits on demand!
Chat via our website
Our informative website contains all of the information you or your loved ones could need to research the type of respite care you’d be looking for over the holidays, and with our instant chat facility, you can connect immediately with one of our friendly team members. Christmas can be an uncertain and stressful time as it is, without the additional worry of organising care, so talk to our friendly team today about how we could support you over the festive season.
Arrange a call back
We appreciate that not everyone is available during our extended office hours, so if you prefer you or a family member can request a call back for a time that is more convenient for you. We have a large team of customer care assistants available to speak to our customers so don’t presume that you’ll be in an endless queue; we’ll get to you quickly. Or, as promised, let us know what time you are able to receive calls and one of our team will call you back.
How we can help
Our carers are the best in the industry, and we can make such a bold statement because we only choose the most compassionate and caring people to join us. As well as delivering exceptional visiting and live-in care standards, our branch teams can assure consistency of care because we don’t operate franchises – all of our branches are owned and operated by Helping Hands. This, along with us being fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission and Care Inspectorate Wales, ensures that your care will always be delivered as promised and your routines followed to the letter.
Page reviewed by Carole Kerton-Church, Regional Clinical Lead on April 4, 2023