Respite Care:

Abstract

Respite care, orginally developed to provide relief to gamily members of developmentally disabled individuals, is growing in popularity with families and service providers. Different forms of respite care are emerging to serve the families of individuals of all ages who have chronic disabling conditions. In this review, various trends in respite care are defined and described, and diverse roles for therapists involved in this growing community service are identified. Special emphasis is placed on the needs of developmentally disabled children and their families.