How does respite care work?

Respite gives the family caregiver time for themselves: a doctor's appointment, a haircut, lunch with a friend or a nap.

Your Care Navigator schedules a trained helper from a local home care agency to come to your home for the hours you choose, up to Medicare's annual limit of about 65 hours a year (for example, about 4 hours a week for four months). The helper stays with the person with dementia while the caregiver is away. We arrange it and pay the agency directly; you file nothing.

Respite is for families caring for someone with moderate or advanced dementia who have an unpaid caregiver.

Questions? Call (916) 314-8600. It's free and 100% confidential.

GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) is a Medicare program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for people with dementia who have Traditional Medicare. Enrollment is voluntary, you may leave at any time, and it does not change your Medicare coverage or your doctors. Respite is available to patients with moderate or advanced dementia who have an unpaid caregiver, up to Medicare's annual limit. Eligibility requirements apply. Not all individuals qualify. This is not medical advice.