Respite care for your loved one

The word "respite" means a short period of rest or relief from something challenging. In caregiving, respite care refers to temporary support that allows a carer to take a break – whether for a few hours, days, or weeks – while ensuring that the person they care for continues to receive safe, high-quality support. It’s called respite because it offers carers a chance to recharge, reduce stress, and look after their own wellbeing.

Respite care is suitable for older adults who need short-term support, whether due to illness, frailty, recovery from surgery, or changes in their regular care arrangements. It’s also ideal for people living with long-term health conditions such as dementia, reduced mobility, or other age-related challenges.

At the same time, respite care benefits primary carers by offering them time to rest, recharge, or focus on other commitments. It ensures the person receiving care remains safe, supported, and comfortable while their usual carer takes a well-earned break.

With Elder, you can get respite care within 24 hours. In urgent situations, we can even match families with a suitable carer on the same day.

In some cases, the NHS can fund respite care, but this usually applies when the care is needed for ongoing medical or complex health needs. If your loved one is eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), this can cover the cost of respite care, whether delivered at home or in a care home.

Eligibility is assessed by your loved one’s local Integrated Care Board (ICB) through a Continuing Healthcare Checklist, which looks at factors like mobility, cognition, medication needs, and overall health. If the care required is primarily health-related, a full assessment may follow to confirm funding support.

Yes, respite care is often a very good idea for both your loved one and their regular carer. It offers a chance for carers to take a well-earned break, reduce stress, and avoid burnout, which in turn helps maintain a higher quality of care in the long term.

For your loved one, respite care – especially when delivered at home – ensures continuity, comfort, and safety. It also allows them to stay in a familiar environment with support tailored to their needs. Whether used occasionally or on a regular basis, respite care can strengthen relationships, improve wellbeing, and help everyone involved feel more supported.

A caring role can have big physical and mental health implications. Regular breaks ensure a carer has space to recharge their batteries, safe in the knowledge that a loved one is being well cared for. It helps to prevent caregiver stress and burnout, which over time may influence how you feel about the person you’re looking after.

The live-in carers Elder works with are experienced, independent care professionals but they’re not registered nurses. While they can support with personal care, household tasks, companionship, and daily routines, there are certain medical tasks they can’t carry out. These include administering medication, stoma and catheter care, PEG feeding, and complex wound care.

Not sure if live-in respite care is right for your situation? Create your free MyElder account to speak with a Care Advisor – no pressure, just expert guidance.

In the UK, the 28-day rule affects certain benefits like Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Attendance Allowance if respite care is funded by the local authority. These benefits may be suspended if the person receiving care stays in a care home for 28 days or more, either in one stay or across multiple stays with gaps of 28 days or less between them.

Time spent in hospital before entering a care home also counts towards the 28 days.

However, the rule does not apply if the person is self-funding their care or if there are 29 days or more at home between respite stays.

Sometimes it’s difficult to know how long you’ll need care for, for example if the person who normally provides care falls ill, or if additional support is needed to support recovery after an illness or operation.

With Elder, you can book a period of respite care with a rough end date. Simply give us a call and let us know if you need to extend or amend your dates.

Yes, if your preferred carer is available. It can help to book multiple periods at once if you can, to ensure your requirements can match up with your carer’s schedule.

Not at all. Your MyElder account is a living document – it’ll exist for as long as you need it. All you’ll need to do when booking future care is check that the information in your care profile is still correct, and update any areas where the care needs have changed.

Your MyElder account has been built to be your all-in-one care management platform. With it you can:

• Add other family members to get them involved in the arrangements
• Communicate with your carer and the Elder team via Elder chat
• View your schedule and plan handover days when your carer takes a break
• Read updates from your carer with the Care Logs feature
• Keep the care profile up to date to reflect any changes to your care needs
• Easily update payment information and track your invoices.

To find suitable respite care near you through Elder, simply fill in our request form to share your care requirements, including the type of care needed, specialist skills (if any), and a description of your loved one's daily life. Based on your information, we will match you with potential carers, and you can then review their profiles, chat online or arrange calls to select the best match.