Every working person needs a break during the day and live-in carers are no exception. How they take them and when though is as flexible as the service they provide. This article discusses the typical ‘break pattern’ of a self-employed Live in Carer engaged privately by the client.
Let’s take a closer look.
One of the main benefits of engaging a Live-in carer is that they are living with you in your home and can support you whenever you need help during the day and night. This can feel incredibly reassuring to you and also give peace of mind to your loved ones, knowing that you are not alone.
Having said that, no living in Carer can physically or mentally work 24 hours a day and a Live-in Carer’s daily rate is usually based on a ten-hour working day. This will be flexible based on your preferred routine, for example when you like to rise in the morning and go to bed at night, and flexible dependent on when you need support during the day, and to fit around any social activities you like to participate in and any appointments you may have.
A Domiciliary Carer will ideally expect 2-3 hours consecutive break during a 24hr period at a time agreeable to you. During this time, they would be able to leave the home to do as they wish and not worry about their client. Therefore, it may be necessary for ‘cover care’ to be arranged, either by a family member, or a local hourly care agency. However, the beauty of this ‘model’ of live-in care is that these breaks are entirely flexible and based upon a mutually respectful agreement between Carer and Client. As long as both parties are happy and content then arrangements can be entirely flexible. We have families registered with us who are able to visit their relative at the weekend for a day, so their home Carer takes the Saturday to themselves and just takes rest within the home the rest of the week. There are many examples of this. Live-in Carers are wonderful people and happy to accommodate the needs and wishes of their clients.
The only caveat to consider is that having a break each day will enable your Live-in Carer to stay fresh and care for and support you to the best of their ability, so it is important to ensure they take breaks as needed. If they are caring for a client with more demanding care needs it is plausible that the Carer would need more down time than if caring for someone purely in need of companionship. There is no hard and fast rule regarding Livein Carer breaks other than the fact that they will of course need one.
What about support through the night?
We suggest that a Live-in Carer may reasonably be expected to support a Client once or twice a night as part of their usual duties, and they are happy to do so. However, if you are requiring assistance more than two times a night or for longer periods of time during the night, then your Carer will likely need a longer break during the day. If your nights are very unsettled and you are needing a lot of support during the night, you may wish to consider engaging the services of a second Live-in Carer – one Carer would work during the day and sleep at night and the other would work during the night and rest during the day. We have a number of Clients who benefit from this level of support.
I am Jo, a Client Relationship Consultant at Access Care. We are an introductory
agency who introduce fully vetted and professionally trained self-employed
Livein Carers to our Clients. I am always at the end of the phone and would be incredibly happy to answer any questions you may have regarding Live-in Carer
breaks.
Best wishes
Jo
Client Relationship Consultant