CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN RESPITE HEALTH AND

Contemporary Challenges in Respite Health and Healthcare

Contemporary Challenges in Respite Health and Healthcare

Introduction

Palliative Care had its sources in the 1960s in the UK with the emergence of the hospice action directed by Dame Cicely Saunders. It begun with study at St Joseph's Hospice, where Dame Cicely was permitted to trial by giving normal dosages of pharmaceuticals to four patients. This evidently easy perform was a innovative approach at the time, discerned with some scepticism. However, scepticism shortly turned to interest as the outcomes displayed a assessed enhancement in the value of these patients' lives.

The aim of respite care is to provide time off for caregivers who are tending an ill or injured loved one. While care is most often provided at the patient's home, it is sometimes arranged for those in care facilities, as well. For those who are able to get out and around but need companionship, mature individual day care programmes can provide daily or occasional respite for caregivers.

The nature of the services requested varies, depending on the individual needs of patients. Some simply require housekeeping and companionship care, while others may need skilled nursing. Respite caregivers are available at all skill levels to provide families of even medically fragile patients some much deserved down time. It is important to note that respite care is prearranged, not emergency care, and is for temporary or substitute care, as opposed to ongoing help. Typically, families use respite care for a day here and there or for weekend or family vacation time.  (Department of Health. 2007).

Background

Improving care during the last phase of life means ensuring that people get the appropriate care, at the right time, in the right place, in a way that they can rely on. This often requires a shift in focus from prevention, treatment and cure to alleviating symptoms, making thoughtful decisions, supporting families and providing ongoing care in the appropriate setting. These measures will apply to a number of service frameworks under development and for this reason they are described as generic standards. Their inclusion within a number of service frameworks is of great significance to ensure the equitable delivery of supportive, palliative and end of life care for all people. Supportive and palliative care is the care given to patients and their families whose disease is not responsive to curative or life sustaining treatment. This care can be provided by practitioners not exclusively concerned with specialist palliative care ie primary care teams; hospital teams and ...