Respite care or short-term breaks should be offered.
The local authority may offer short breaks or overnight respite for your loved one to be cared for by in-home services or in a care home.
For extra information, evidence and best practice please scroll down to the bottom of the page.
National offerings
Age UK
Telephone: Advice line 0800 678 1602 free to call 8am - 7pm 365 days of the year
Weblink: https://www.ageuk.org.uk
Alzheimer’s Society
Telephone: National Dementia Helpline: 0300 222 1122. Open 9.00am. – 5.00pm. Monday to Friday & 10.00am. – 4.00pm. Saturday and Sunday.
Weblink: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/
Dementia UK
Telephone: 0800 88 6678
Email: direct@dementiauk.org
Weblink: https://www.dementiauk.org/
Lewy Body Society
Telephone: 01942 914000
Weblink: https://www.lewybody.org/
NICE Dementia Guidance
Weblinks:
We have provided links to the NICE guideline for dementia and a further link is provided to guidance on how to delay or prevent the onset of dementia.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) NG16 (2015) Dementia, disability and frailty in later life – mid-life approaches to delay or prevent onset: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng16
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2019) Dementia: assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97
Healthwatch
Telephone: Call: 03000 683 000 between the hours of 08:30 – 17:30 Monday to Friday
Email: enquiries@healthwatch.co.uk
Weblink: https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/your-local-healthwatch/list
Evidence
Dementia Action Alliance, Carers Call to Action: "Family carers of people with dementia should have confidence that they can access good quality care, support and respite services that are flexible, culturally appropriate, timely and provided by skilled staff, both for themselves and the person for whom they care."
Research paper, Knapp et al 2012: "Some evidence suggests that respite care in day settings and psychosocial interventions for carers could be cost-effective. Coordinated care management and personal budgets held by carers have also demonstrated cost-effectiveness in some studies."
NHS resource, Carers' breaks and respite care: "Respite care means taking a break from caring, while the person you care for is looked after by someone else. It lets you take time out to look after yourself and helps stop you becoming exhausted and run down. There are lots of respite care options. They range from getting a volunteer to sit with the person you look after for a few hours, to a short stay in a care home so you can go on holiday. The person you look after could go to a day care centre. Or, a paid carer could visit them at their home to look after them."