Do you want to take a week away but are worried your relative with an illness might not cope well with your absence?

Sometimes familiar family or neighbours can fill in for you while you're away. Is there anyone who seems likely?

If a family member is willing but lives in another town, some families provide a bus or plane ticket to a relative in another town to come visit and fill in for them for a week while they go away.

For shorter breaks, sometime offering to cover expenses (food, activity fees etc...) can make it possible for a family member or friend to afford to help out by spending time with an ill relative.

If there is no family member or friend available, sometimes mental health workers accept private contracts to provide respite care. You can ask at your local mental health centre for referrals, or ask workers your ill family member is familiar with.

If kids home from school are making caregiving more complicated in the summer, a summer camp or day program can help. If needed, subsidies for these programs exist - it can't hurt to ask.

These are just a few ideas. What strategies have worked for you or other families you know? Sometimes it can be very helpful to have others ideas to open up possibilities.

I hope you will join in the discussion and share your experience.

Sincerely,
Sophia

forum moderator

Great topic. I've been discussing with my partner how I can get a few days to myself and we're talking about him going for a few days to a quiet place he used to stay at where he can do music and eat whatever whenever and I can have a break and just do stuff with my son, cause I am exhausted and would like to just not worry for a day. Other than that we've done day camp with my son and tried doing some family stuff but my partner is just really down about doing anything right now.