Those who have been assessed as eligible to receive respite care via an interRAI assessment can access respite care in a rest home or other residential care facility. This will generally need to be booked in advance – find a list of rest homes that offer respite care (as not all do) on Making Life Easier.
In some circumstances, formal respite care can also be provided in the home, by home support providers in your region. To access funded support services at home, you will have to be assessed as requiring it via an interRAI assessment. You can, however, choose to pay for these services privately. You can find a list of Home Support providers throughout New Zealand who may offer such a service on Making Life Easier.
There are alternatives to formal respite care, however: for example, day or social programmes and informal support from family/whānau.
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Day or social programmes are a great way of allowing carers to take a break, while also giving the older person a chance to have a fun day out where they can socialise and engage in meaningful activities. A subsidy may be available if the person you are caring for has been assessed by your local NASC as being eligible.
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You may be able to turn to family/whānau to provide informal care to give you a short break (an afternoon or even an hour away). It’s important to ensure that the person/people that offer to take over your caring duties understand the needs of the person and what they enjoy/don’t enjoy doing, for example. Think carefully about who this might be. This relief care should happen where the person being cared for feels most comfortable too – ideally in their own home or the home of someone they are familiar with.
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If the person you are caring for has an injury and is covered by ACC, ACC may be able to make arrangements to help you take a break. This can include getting a carer to come into the person’ s home to care for them in your absence, or moving them into a residential care facility to receive respite care while you’re away.
Updated: 21 Apr 2023