Families: Other Resources

Other Resources

A number of organizations and state agencies have been part of the Delaware Caregivers Support Coalition that have helped make the Delaware Lifespan Respite Care Network a reality. Many of them provide respite care, or are agencies through which care is paid.

List of the organizations associated with the Network:

AARP Delaware

Autism Delaware

ARC of Delaware

Center for Disabilities Studies, University of Delaware

Children & Families First

Children & Families First: Resources

CHEER

Coordinating Council for Children with Disabilities

Delaware Aging Network (DAN)

Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC)

Delaware Division for Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDDS)

Delaware Department of Children Youth and Families, Division of Child Mental Health

Delaware Division for Services to Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities (DSAAPD)

Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families

Delaware Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center

Delaware HelpLine

Easter Seals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore

Elwyn - Delaware

Generations Home Care, Inc.

HOPE Center of Delaware

National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Delaware Chapter

State Council for Persons with Disabilities

State of Delaware - Division of Public Health

State of Delaware - Children with Special Health Needs

Other Useful Websites:

National Alliance for Caregiving
(A nonprofit coalition of national organizations focusing on issues of family caregiving)

Lotsa Helping Hands
(A website that allows you to create a free-of-charge, web-based community to organize family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues during times of need)

My HealtheVet Caregiver Assistance Center

(A website to help veterans and their caregivers achieve the best health care possible)

Useful publications:

Respite Services: Enhancing the Quality of Daily Life for Caregivers and Care Receivers
(A PDF brochure to help family caregivers assess their circumstances and make respite more effective)

How to Choose a Respite Provider (PDF)

Care for the Family Caregiver: A Place to Start (PDF)
(A PDF booklet, produced by Emblem Health and the National Alliance for Caregiving, that gives an overview of the basic aspects and issues involved with caregiving)

Caregiving in the U.S. 2009 (PDF)
(Executive Summary of the most comprehensive examination to date of caregiving in America, funded by MetLife Foundation and conducted for the National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. Visit www.caregiving.org for companion reports)

Respite – Siblings

Vicky’s younger brother Philip spent most of his life in a 65-bed facility for people with disabilities. When rising costs made it difficult for him to stay, Philip left the institution and moved in with his sister. Over the years Vicky has made her house accessible so that Philip could spend weekends and holidays with her, and she welcomed him moving into her home. Although they have neighbors they could call on in an emergency, Vicky and Philip have no immediate family to help with their respite needs. If Vicky needs to be absent from the home for an extended period of time, Philip can stay at the institution he left, but otherwise it is difficult for her to be away for even short periods of time.

Center for Disabilities Studies (U of DE) staff for publication in the Delaware Caregivers Support Coalition final report on respite care in December, 2007.