Respite Care in Fresno, CA
Caring for a parent or spouse at home is a full-time job, and everyone who does it needs a break now and then. A-Plus In Home Care provides respite care in Fresno, where one of our trained caregivers steps in at home so you can rest, go to work or take some time away. Your loved one stays in their own home with their usual routine, and you set the schedule, whether that means a few hours on a Saturday or a full week while you travel.
Fill Out This Form to Connect with Our Expert Home Care Team in Fresno
A-Plus In Home Care strives to be as flexible as possible, enabling us to better meet our client’s needs and schedules across all our services.
In-Home Respite Care in Fresno
Respite care is a planned break for the family member who usually does the caregiving. With in-home respite care, a caregiver from A-Plus comes to your loved one's house and takes over for a set stretch of time. Your mom or dad stays in the home they know, in their own chair and their own kitchen, while you get a little time back for yourself.
Plenty of Fresno families are doing this work right now. About 29% of households in Fresno include someone 65 or older, and in many of those homes a son, daughter or spouse handles the daily care. Respite care for caregivers gives that person a chance to sleep, see their own doctor, keep up with work and come back rested. A caregiver who gets regular breaks can keep going for the long haul, and that's good for everyone in the house.
We are a non-medical home care agency, and we have been caring for seniors in the Fresno area since 1999. Respite care at home is one of the home care services we offer Fresno families, and our caregivers also visit homes in Clovis, Sunnyside, Fowler, Reedley, Selma, Sanger and Madera.
What a Respite Caregiver Helps With
Close to 4 in 10 Fresno residents 65 and older live with a disability, and among those 75 and up it's more than half. For a lot of families, that means help with bathing, dressing and getting around is part of every single day. During a visit, our caregiver picks up those everyday tasks you usually handle yourself. Respite care for the elderly can include any of the common services our caregivers provide:
- Dressing, grooming and hygiene
- Bathing
- Help with walking and getting around
- Transfers, such as moving from the bed to a chair
- Incontinence care
- Meal preparation
- Medication reminders
- Light housekeeping
- Laundry
- Errands
- Companionship
Our caregiver also keeps to your loved one's normal day. If Dad eats lunch at noon, watches his favorite show at three and likes a short walk after dinner, the visit runs the same way. We ask about those little habits during the assessment, so the caregiver can follow them from the very first hour and your loved one's day feels like any other day.
Respite Schedules That Fit Your Family
Every family uses respite a little differently. Some want short-term respite care for a few hours each day so they can work or run errands. Others need a few days a week, a weekend away, or round-the-clock help while they travel or recover from an illness or surgery of their own. Our care schedules can run anywhere from a few hours a day to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and our services are available 24/7.
Overnight respite care helps most when nights are the hardest part. With hourly care, we can schedule an awake caregiver at night to help with bathroom trips, incontinence care, wandering, confusion or sundowning. You get to sleep through the night in the next room, knowing someone is up and paying attention.
Care can start quickly when you need it to. Often the urgency of the situation sets the pace, and in some cases we begin services within a few hours of a family's first contact. Families with more time can plan the start date weeks ahead, and we're happy to work either way.
At A-Plus In Home Care we put the needs of our clients and their families first. But don’t just take our word for it read our testimonials.
Respite When Your Loved One Has Dementia or a Serious Illness
Dementia care can wear a family caregiver down fast. About 14,600 people age 55 and up in Fresno County were living with Alzheimer's disease in 2019, and the state expected that number to pass 18,000 by 2025. That's a lot of spouses and grown children in our county keeping watch day and night.
For dementia respite care in Fresno, our caregivers keep things steady and familiar. Familiar surroundings give people with dementia a great deal of security, and our caregivers stick to structured routines, which you can read more about in how we care for people with Alzheimer's and dementia at home.
Families caring for someone with cancer can use respite too. Our home care for people going through cancer can be set up as respite care, 24-hour live-in care or a short-term arrangement, so the family gets a rest during a hard stretch of treatment.
Caregiver Support Resources in Fresno
Fresno has free help for family caregivers, and it works well alongside paid respite. The Fresno-Madera Area Agency on Aging runs a Family Caregiver Support Program for unpaid caregivers through Valley Caregiver Resource Center. These respite care programs in Fresno include support groups, education and training, one-on-one counseling, legal consultations, respite assistance and the OASIS adult day program.
Valley Caregiver Resource Center is also California's Caregiver Resource Center for Fresno County and eight other Central Valley and Sierra counties. It's the state's front door for caregiving families here, so it's a good first stop for learning what help is out there.
A program schedule only covers so many hours in a week. Our respite caregivers can cover evenings, weekends, overnights and the days in between, so your loved one has help at home during the hours the programs leave open. Many Fresno families use both.
Paying for Respite Care
Families often want to know how much respite care costs before anything else. The cost depends on the hours, the time of day and how much help your loved one needs. Our rates include taxes, insurance, bonding, screening and workers' comp, and the free assessment gives you an exact quote built around your own schedule.
Many families pay privately. Others use long-term care insurance, and we help with long-term care insurance paperwork and claims. Veterans and surviving spouses may qualify for the VA Aid and Attendance benefit, which can help pay for home care, and we offer in-home care and benefits help for veterans and their surviving spouses.
Medi-Cal members may be eligible for CalAIM or the Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), which can help cover in-home care at little to no cost. You can see whether you qualify for free in-home care through these and other programs.
Many families also wonder about Medicare. Original Medicare covers respite only for people in its hospice benefit, as inpatient stays of up to five days in an approved facility, and ongoing in-home respite falls outside that benefit. Our post on who pays for respite care walks through each option in more detail.
You may have some questions. Chances are we’ve been asked the very same question quite a few times. So we’ve started gathering a few of them here.
How to Arrange Respite Care with A-Plus In Home Care
Getting started takes four steps, and you can go at whatever pace feels right for your family. First, you or someone acting on your loved one's behalf reaches out and shares what's going on. During that first conversation, we'll talk through whether home care is a good fit.
Next comes the assessment. It's a face-to-face meeting where we go over your loved one's needs, the schedule and the exact cost, and there's never a fee for it. When the need is urgent, we can do the assessment by phone so care isn't held up.
Third, we match a caregiver to your loved one using everything we learned. You can interview caregivers one-on-one if you'd like, or you can ask us to make the choice, which many families prefer.
Last, you sign our service agreement, and care begins at the time we agreed on.
Families trust us with their loved ones, and we take that seriously. We run thorough background and motor vehicle checks on our caregivers. They're insured, and they keep learning through ongoing in-service training. Our agency license number is 104700076.
Every family's situation has its own details, and we'd love to hear about yours. When you're ready, you can fill out our Get Started form or reach us through our Contact Us page, and let's chat about the break you need.
Frequently Asked Questions About Respite Care in Fresno
What is respite care?
Respite care is short-term care for an older adult so the family member who usually looks after them can take a break. We provide it at home in Fresno, with one of our caregivers stepping in for a few hours, a night or longer while you rest, work or get away for a while.
How quickly can respite care start in Fresno?
It depends on how urgent things are. In some cases we can begin services within a few hours of your first contact with us. Other families take a few weeks to plan, and we're glad to work on whatever timeline suits you.
How long can respite care last?
As long as your family needs it. Our schedules range from a few hours a day or a few days a week all the way up to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you can set up respite for a single stretch or on a regular basis.
Are respite caregivers screened?
Yes. We run thorough background and motor vehicle checks on our caregivers. They are insured, and they receive ongoing training so they're ready for the kind of help your loved one needs.
Can we meet the caregiver before respite care begins?
Yes, if you'd like to. After the assessment, you or your loved one's advocate can interview caregivers one-on-one. Many families simply ask us to make the match, and we use what we learned at the assessment to choose someone who fits.
Does Medicare pay for respite care?
Only in a narrow case. Original Medicare covers respite for people enrolled in its hospice benefit, as inpatient stays of up to five days in an approved facility. In-home respite falls outside that benefit, so families often use private pay, long-term care insurance, VA benefits, or Medi-Cal programs like CalAIM and MSSP, and we help with each of these.
Is there free respite help for caregivers in Fresno?
Yes. The Fresno-Madera Area Agency on Aging offers a free Family Caregiver Support Program for unpaid caregivers through Valley Caregiver Resource Center, and it includes respite assistance. We can also check whether your family qualifies for no-cost in-home care programs.
Since A-Plus In Home Care began operating in 1999, we have provided local seniors and others with high-quality, personal, in home care services to help simplify and improve the quality of their lives. We work closely with family to ensure your loved ones get the best care available senior care in Clovis and Fresno, California.
Our mission is to work within the community to provide all levels of personal care to you or your loved one. We partner with your team to ensure your optimum health and well being, and our staff is to trained to provide compassionate and dignified care to you. They provide that extra special touch, making us one of a kind in elder care.
