Respite Across the Lifespan, an organization representing the Eastern Region of the Nebraska Respite Network, is now officing at the Munroe-Meyer Institute. Respite associates Ellen Bennett and Janet Miller moved their office from the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging (ENOA) on April 1.
What is respite?
Respite is mainly focused on those family members who are acting as a caregiver. Those caregivers need to take a break (respite) to do something for themselves even if that is going to their own appointments; going to the grocery store or even to have a cup of coffee with friends. Studies are showing that the family caregivers’ own health can be compromised by balancing caregiving, a job and family duties. Respite allows them to have someone stay with their family member so they can relax and rejuvenate.
The program covers Douglas and Sarpy County for the state, providing not only respite training but acting as a hub for families seeking respite providers. Respite Across Lifespan keeps a roster of trained respite providers, who undergo annual background checks, for caregivers seeking help.
“We assist family caregivers in finding respite care providers along with connecting them to other possible services that may be available to them through the state system of services,” Miller said.
“We’re always recruiting people to do the care providing, to be our respite providers,” Bennett said. “We’re always looking to see if we can help families who have someone with special needs. We do a lot of outreach with different groups, including educators and community partners.”
The move to MMI made sense on many levels, Miller and Bennett said.
“We were collaborating quite a bit with staff here at MMI, and it was probably a better fit than at ENOA, because we are working across the lifespan,” Bennett said.
Being closer to their MMI collaborators, who provide respite training and avenues to respite for families with members who have intellectual or developmental disabilities, has been an advantage, Miller said.
“We were kind of a little island all alone over at the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging,” she said. “Here, we have access to more possibilities to serve families better, to outreach to families better, to get better training to the people who are providing care. There are just more possibilities here.”
Both Bennett and Miller are trained to do the Respite, Education and Support Tools (REST) training, and both already were coming over to MMI often to help provide training.
“Now, we’ll just be able to do the training — in fact, we have one scheduled for June 4,” Miller said.
For more information or to sign up for the June 4 respite training, click here.
Another advantage is that MMI will help Respite Across the Lifespan get the word out about what respite is and why it is necessary.
“We still think that there’s more that needs to be done,” Miller said. “We’ve spent a lot of time trying to get out into the community to tell people what respite is. And then, we try to help people understand that they are caregivers — they don’t think of themselves as caregivers.”