Dr. Carole Myers
Welcome to HealthConnections, the show about people, health, and policy. I'm Dr. Carole Myers. Caregiving is hard work, and caregivers can experience physical, emotional, psychological, and financial strain. One strategy for dealing with caregiver strain is respite care. Today, I'm joined by Jess Vincil, the Executive Director of Autism Breakthrough, a local organization that provides respite services to people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Welcome to HealthConnections, Jess.
Jess Vincil
Thank you.
Please say more about caregiving and caregiver strain, the problem we're trying to address.
Anybody taking care and caring for someone on the autism spectrum is very rewarding. It's a wonderful thing, but it's also a lot, and it can lead to burnout and stress. So, one service that's out there is that respite, which is a kind of a short interim break for parents or caregivers, where they can take that time to care for themselves. It also gives the opportunity for the person that's doing the respite to participate in new activities and also meet new people. There's just a lot of different good points.
So I'm hearing you say that respite care has benefits for the caregiver as well as the person they care for.
Correct.
What benefits does respite care offer caregivers and the people they care for? Could you say more about that?
Just getting that break. All of us need it at some point. For one, it gives them that time to relax and take care of themselves. And I know we're pointing that toward the caregiver, but on the flip side, with the the person utilizing the respite, they also get the opportunity to do a lot of things, and which help them. It's almost a vacation for them. And when they come back to the caregiver, since both parties got that break, a lot of times it helps all around for the situation.
Help me understand more how it benefits the person that, in other language, we might call the patient or the person being cared for. How does it benefit them? Would you say more?
I think one of the biggest things is just new experiences. You meet new people. A lot of times they're with a new staff member that's getting to know them, so they get to meet new people, and that that circle of support, the number of people that someone on the autism spectrum knows, just the better it is for them. So that they're meeting new people that participate in new activities they may have never done before. Typically during respite, it's very scheduled and organized, and they're probably going to go out and do things they've they've never done before.
So, the respite services that you provide at your agency are directed at people with autism, but not just people with autism. Is that correct?
Correct.
You've talked about local respite care, but what other services are available to assist and support caregivers and the people they care for?
We get this question a lot from other people as well, but there's all sorts of different services. Our agency has we do residential services, community day services. There's a whole lot of different services that we provide. We also have some specific training, autism-specific crisis management training that we've performed in the past for caregivers on demand if they wanted it, which can be a huge help. The more training and support a person has in working with someone with autism, I think the better. The Department of Disability and Aging get most of our funding through, but they've got all sorts of different services that can be provided by 50 different agencies here in Knoxville.
This is Dr. Carole Myers, joined today by Jess Vincil, the Executive Director of Autism Breakthrough in Knoxville. Thank you for listening to HealthConnections. All past episodes are available at WUOT.org for on-demand listening. And listeners, your questions and suggestions are always welcome.
