Aim and objectives: Investigate the use of respite care among family caregivers and examine factors related to their willingness to use such care.
Background: Respite care is a pivotal service for supporting family caregivers. Although research related to respite care is not a new field in western societies, such studies have rarely been done for Asian populations.
Design: A cross-sectional study.
Methods: The study was conducted using a convenience sample of 100 family caregivers obtained through four home health care agencies in Northern Taiwan. Structured face-to face interviews were conducted in home settings. Caregivers were divided into a willingness group and a non-willingness group. The quantitative data were analysed using t-test, chi-square and multiple logistic regression.
Results: Sixty-five per cent of the caregivers interviewed did not know about respite care services. The prevalence of respite care use was 11%. Eighty-nine per cent of the caregivers had never used respite care: 60.7% of them reported that they would never use it and 39.3% of the caregivers indicated that they were willing to use respite care in the future. This study showed that willingness to use respite care was higher when the respite services matched the needs of the caregivers as well as the caregivers perceived higher caregiving burden.
Conclusions: These results suggest that respite care services should be explained more explicitly to family caregivers. Also, any respite care plan must consider the family caregivers burden, both perceived and realistically.
Relevance to clinical practice: The willingness to use respite care is a culturally sensitive issue. Health care providers must act as advocates to improve respite care policy. They must ensure that respite care fits caregivers' needs and they must help caregivers overcome the social or cultural barriers to respite care.