Respite care as a community care service: Factors associated with the effects on family carers of adults with intellectual disability in Taiwan

Abstract

Background This study examines the effects and associated factors of respite care, which was legislated as a community service for adults with an intellectual disability (ID) in Taiwan in 1997.

Method A total of 116 family carers who live with an adult with ID and have utilised the respite care program were surveyed using standardised measures.

Results The results suggest that the most notable effects of respite care include improvement in the carers' social support and life satisfaction, and relief of psychological stress and overall burden of care. The factors associated with these effects include the way the participants have used the respite care and the users' individual characteristics.

Conclusions How families used the respite care, whether the carers practised a religion, and where the families resided, were the most significant factors in determining the effectiveness of the respite. Suggestions are made for making access to information about the program more widely available, and for extending the availability and duration of the service.

Keywords:

• respite care
• family
• intellectual disability
• Taiwan

Notes

1. In Taiwan, according to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a student completes his or her compulsory education at the age of 15 years. Thus related governmental surveys differentiate between children and adults at the age of 15.

2. In Taiwan, some residential services and boarding special schools require users to stay with their family during the weekend. As a result, some of the users of respite care are also users of 24‐hour residential care services.

3. This project was conducted in 2002, and approval by an ethics review board was not required at that time. Instead, an informed consent form was used.

4. The types of family subsidies received included: allowance for the person with disabilities, subsidy for using day care services, and subsidy for low income family caregivers.

5. According to Taipei City Government documents, the goals of “Emergency and Short‐Term Care Services” are: (i) relieving families' long‐term care stress; (ii) increasing carers' interaction with other family members or involvement in social activities; (iii) promoting family integration and quality of life; (iv) increasing social interaction, quality of life, and self‐care capability; and (v) delaying the out‐of‐home placement of persons with a disability (Department of Social Affairs, Taipei City Government, 1994, 2000).

6. This is compared with 8.7% of the Taiwanese population having a tertiary‐level education or above in the 2002 National Survey (Department of Statistics, Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan, ROC, 2003).

7. There are 25 counties and cities in Taiwan; Taipei City and Kaohsiung City are the only two metropolitan cities.

8. The Ministry of the Interior is the central Government agency responsible for welfare issues in Taiwan.