Best Practice in Respite Care Study Launched
15th October 2007
The National Parents’ & Siblings’ Alliance and The Daisychain Foundation launch a study on best practice in respite care
“Towards Best Practice in the Provision of Respite Services for People with an Intellectual Disability and Autism”
“Many parents, siblings and carers of children and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism experience significant challenges over extended periods as well as regular (and often severe) stress. Respite care offers a break for those who experience such stress and normally consists of temporary residential care in the local community. However, respite is not just about a break for parents and carers, nor should it be solely for those under stress. It also provides positive opportunities for young people and adults with disabilities to interact with their peers, to achieve a measure of independence and to enjoy relationships with people outside their immediate family circle. It also facilitates a transition pathway to independent, though perhaps sheltered, accommodation in later years. Such respite is therefore not just desirable; it is essential. Yet remarkably little research has been carried out to date on this important service.” Professor P.J. Drudy
This Report, commissioned by the National Parents and Siblings Alliance, funded by The Daisychain Foundation and undertaken by the Child and Family Research Centre in NUIG, is an attempt to establish what is “best practice” in relation to respite care and suggests a number of key principles for progress in the future. A secondary aim of the research was to provide a resource for raising the policy profile of respite care, and for leveraging support for further research.
In the course of this research, a number of principles of best practice in the provision of respite care emerged. The eight provisional principles are:
Principle One: That respite services be person-centred and family-centred;
Principle Two: That respite services be provided on a rights basis;
Principle Three: That respite be defined as a support service and regarded among a system of support services;
Principle Four: That there be a single point of access to respite care services in a given administrative area.
Principle Five: That respite services be designed in consultation with families in acknowledgement of their expertise in providing care;
Principle Six: That respite be designed to facilitate the service user in building relationships in their community;
Principle Seven: That respite services be age-appropriate and develop as the service user develops;
Principle Eight: That respite care services have clear goals and that systematic and regular review ensure achievement of those goals.
In his launch speech Frankie Whelehan, Founder of The Daisychain Foundation and CEO of Choice Hotels Ireland outlined the task which was set to Brian Merriman and the Child and Family Research Centre in NUIG to deliver ”...a study which explored the area of Respite and to research the key gap areas which exist in our country today. We are very pleased with the results, and we are very confident that the study will lead to new innovations in that area.
About The Child and Family Research Centre
The Child and Family Research Centre (CFRC) is a joint initiative between the Health Service Executive and the Department of Political Science and Sociology at National University of Ireland, Galway. The CFRC undertakes research, evaluation and policy studies in the area of child and family care and welfare. This report was researched and written by Brian Merriman MLitt and Dr John Canavan. The centre’s website is www.childandfamilyresearch.ie.
About The Daisychain Foundation
Founded in 2005, The Daisychain Foundation has the clear objective of supporting families living with children with special needs. Over 25,000 families in Ireland are caring for a child with an intellectual or physical disability, with little opportunity for respite care for either the child or the carer.
In 2005, the Time for You programme was launched by patron of the foundation, The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. The programme, in association with Choice Hotels Ireland and the National Parents and Siblings Alliance, offered over 1,000 complimentary hotel stays to families and carers around Ireland. Working with local service providers, these families were given the opportunity to take a deserved break from the pressures of caring at home. Offering a choice of one of what were then 23 hotels in Ireland the programme has been an outstanding success.
In further pursuit of respite opportunities, the Foundation has funded a research project, by The Child and Family Institute in Galway, in the area of respite for people with disabilities in order for The Daisychain Foundation to channel funds into progressive respite projects.
The link between The Daisychain Foundation and Choice Hotels Ireland is Frankie Whelehan – CEO of Choice Hotels Ireland and founder of the Daisychain Foundation. The leading Irish hotel group, following reorganisation, now owns and operates 9 hotels in Ireland and the UK.
About The National Parents’ & Siblings’ Alliance
The National Parents' & Siblings' Alliance was formed in 1998 by a group of like-minded parents and siblings of people with an intellectual disability. Our primary driving force is to represent the views of the parents, siblings and other carers of people with an intellectual disability and autism.
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