Senior Care - What's the best environment for my elderly parent?

I’m Dave Ciccantelli, and I’m the owner of Assisted Living Locators Waukesha. In December of 2017, I launched the first franchise of Assisted Living Locators in Wisconsin after experiencing the challenges of trying to navigate the complicated number of senior care options for my father.

Because of this, I plan, over the next several weeks, to help educate those of us who are looking at senior care options for our parents, relatives, or for ourselves. Because I’m local and in the community, I’m able to look at a wide range of options for seniors. I see my job as educating so people can make the best choice for their situation.

This is my fourth installment in a series of articles providing more information about the available options in the senior housing industry. Today, I’m going to discuss Respite Care.

In my introductory article, I defined Respite Care as short term stay for seniors who can’t be home alone. These individuals typically require 24 hour care and the length of respite can range from a day to several weeks. This is a viable option when a full time caregiver (usually a family member) may be unavailable for several weeks or if the caregiver just needs a short term break from the demanding duties of caring for a loved one. This usually involves moving the senior into another facility where care is provided by full time caregivers for the duration of the respite stay. The advantage of this is that it can serve as a trial run when a family is considering a move to long term assisted living care. Another option is for outside caregivers may be brought in which allows for the respite to occur at the senior’s residence.

In either scenario, respite care can offer some temporary relief from the demands that at-home caregiving can place on family members. Most assisted living facilities offer this service for seniors.

Assisted Living Locators offers a no-cost service for seniors and their families providing expert advice on short and long-term care options, including in-home care, independent living, assisted living, memory care, and retirement apartments. For more information about Assisted Living Locators, call Dave Ciccantelli at 262-933.8107, email at dciccantelli@assistedlivinglocators.com, or visit our website at www.Waukesha.AssistedLivingLocators.com.