Respite Care in Washtenaw County: How Family Caregivers Get a Real Break

A family caregiver may be looking for something very simple: one night of sleep without listening for a parent who might need help. Another may need an afternoon for a medical appointment, or a few days to recover from their own illness.

When care takes up most of the day and part of the night, it can be difficult to see where a break would fit. Respite care gives families a way to plan that break while arranging support for the person at home.

Asking about respite can begin with the ordinary needs of your week. You can describe what your parent needs and what you need time to do, then work through the options together.

Below is what respite care is, what it costs, how to pay for it, and what’s available in Washtenaw County.

What Respite Care Is

Respite care is short-term support that allows a family caregiver to step away while the person receiving care continues to have help.

It can be a few hours on a Tuesday afternoon. It can be one overnight so somebody can sleep. It can be a weekend so a couple can attend a wedding. It can be two weeks so a caregiver can have their own surgery, or recover from their own illness, or simply not break.

What separates respite from ongoing care isn’t the type of care being provided. It’s the intent. Respite exists to give the family caregiver room to breathe.

Respite can be part of an ongoing care arrangement. Planning ahead gives you time to ask questions, introduce a new person and decide how much support would fit.

The Types of Respite Available

There are several forms, and the right one depends on what you need.

In-Home Respite

A caregiver comes to your parent’s home while you leave. Ask how it would fit your situation.

It can be scheduled as a one-time need, a standing weekly block, or an occasional as-needed thing. Ask the agency how much notice it needs and whether it has someone available for the dates and care needs you describe.

Common patterns:

• Four hours, one afternoon a week, so the caregiver has a reliable block that’s theirs
• Overnight coverage, so the caregiver can sleep through the night
• A weekend, so the family can travel
• A week or two, for a caregiver’s own medical procedure or genuine exhaustion

Adult Day Programs

Your parent goes somewhere for the day, usually a structured program with activities, meals, social contact, and supervision — while you work, rest, or handle your own life.

Ask each program about supervision, activities, meals, transportation and the care needs it can support. Compare its hours with the break you need.

Short-Term Residential Respite

Some assisted living and memory care communities accept short-term stays, typically ranging from a few days to a few weeks. Your parent stays at the facility, receives care there, and returns home afterward.

This is the option for longer absences — a caregiver’s surgery, an out-of-state trip, a genuine need to be away. It’s also sometimes used as a low-pressure way for a family to test whether residential care might eventually be a fit.

Informal Respite

Informal respite can mean a neighbor sitting with your father for two hours, a church volunteer program, a sibling taking a weekend, or a friend taking your mother to lunch every other Thursday.

These arrangements are unpaid and informal, and they’re often the first respite a family uses. Ask your own community whether it offers visits or other caregiver support.

What Respite Costs and How to Pay for It

In-home respite: Ask for the hourly rate, minimum shift length, any overnight or weekend charges, and a written estimate for the schedule you are considering.

Adult day programs: Ask about the daily rate, transportation charges and any financial assistance. Compare the total cost with the hours of support provided.

Short-term residential respite is usually billed at a daily rate that varies by community and level of care.

There may be help with paying for care, depending on eligibility and the arrangement.

Michigan’s MI Choice Waiver includes respite care as a covered service for participants who qualify medically and financially. Ask the program about current availability and any waiting list before planning care around this benefit. AgeWays Non-Profit Senior Services (800-852-7795) administers MI Choice for Washtenaw County.

VA respite care may be available to enrolled veterans who meet clinical criteria. Availability, community care eligibility and copays can vary. Ask the VA social worker about the options for your parent. Our full guide to VA benefits for Michigan families covers the broader picture.

Medicare covers respite care under the hospice benefit. Ask the hospice team whether inpatient respite is available under the hospice benefit, how long the stay can be and what cost-sharing applies. The hospice team must arrange covered inpatient respite.

Long-term care insurance: Ask the insurer whether the policy covers the proposed respite arrangement, what documentation it needs and whether any waiting period applies.

Dementia-specific support: Ask AgeWays about current caregiver services and assistance for families caring for someone with dementia. Do not plan around a grant until eligibility and funding are confirmed.

Local assistance: Ask AgeWays whether any other funded respite services are available for your situation.

If you’d like help figuring out what kind of respite would fit your situation, you can schedule a free in-home assessment and we’ll talk it through. There’s no cost and no pressure to decide that day, and we can discuss which kind of support would fit.

Local Resources in Washtenaw County

Places to start, specifically for families in the Ann Arbor area.

AgeWays Non-Profit Senior Services (formerly the Area Agency on Aging 1-B) at 800-852-7795. They coordinate senior services across Washtenaw County, administer the MI Choice Waiver, and can connect families to respite programs and adult day options.

Adult day programs in Washtenaw County. Several operate in the area. AgeWays can provide a current list with locations, hours, and cost.

Caregiver support groups: Ask AgeWays for current local or online options. A group can provide a place to talk through the practical and emotional parts of caregiving.

Getting Past the Guilt

A family caregiver may feel uneasy about leaving, even when someone else is there to help. The practical questions and the emotional ones often arrive together. Will my parent be comfortable? Will the new person understand what they need? Will I be able to stop thinking about the house long enough to rest?

Those are questions you can bring into the planning conversation. Ask how the caregiver will learn the routine, what information you should leave, and how you will be reached if a question comes up. A first visit while you are home may help everyone become more comfortable.

You can begin with a small, planned break and review how it went before making the next arrangement. Leave enough time for an introduction, and tell the caregiver what helps your parent feel at ease.

How to Set It Up

If you’re ready to try respite, the practical path is short.

Decide what you need first. Four hours a week? One overnight? A weekend? Being specific makes everything else easier.

Call AgeWays or a home care agency and describe the situation. Ask about availability and cost before agreeing to a service.

Start smaller than you think you should, if that’s what it takes to get started. A single four-hour block is a fine beginning. You can review how it went before booking another visit.

Introduce the caregiver before you leave. For your parent’s comfort and yours, a first visit where you’re present makes the second visit much easier. Ask the agency how introductions and handoffs work.

Leave the house. Plan how you will use the time: rest, see a friend or go to your own doctor. If you want to leave the house, make that part of the arrangement.

Put the next one on the calendar before the first one ends. Respite that’s scheduled happens. Respite that’s “when I need it” tends not to.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get respite care in Ann Arbor?

The two most common paths are calling a home care agency directly for in-home respite, and asking about availability, or calling AgeWays Non-Profit Senior Services at 800-852-7795 to ask about adult day programs, Medicaid waiver respite, and state-funded options. If your parent is on hospice, ask the hospice team about the Medicare inpatient respite benefit.

Does Medicare pay for respite care?

Routine respite outside the hospice benefit should not be assumed covered by Medicare. Covered inpatient respite can be arranged through the hospice benefit for eligible patients. Ask the hospice team about the length of stay and any cost-sharing.

How much respite care do I need?

Start with the time you need and your parent’s care needs. A regular afternoon, an overnight or a longer absence may require different arrangements. Ask the provider what it can safely support and review the plan after the first visit.

What if my parent refuses to have someone else care for them?

It may help to start with a very short visit, frame the caregiver as a companion rather than a caregiver, have the first visit happen while you’re still in the house, and let the relationship build over a few sessions before you leave. Some parents accept help more readily when it’s framed as help for you rather than for them.

Is respite care the same as adult day care?

Adult day programs are one form of respite. The broader category also includes in-home respite, short-term residential stays, and informal arrangements. Compare the program’s hours, care support and total cost with other options.

If You’re Reading This at Midnight

Family caregivers do a lot of their research at strange hours, after the person they’re caring for has finally gone to sleep. If that’s you right now, I’d offer one thought before you close this page.

You do not have to earn a break by reaching a breaking point. You are allowed to ask for help while you are still functioning, and you can plan support before the need becomes urgent.

If you’d like to talk through what respite might look like for your family, you can schedule a free in-home assessment whenever you’re ready. There’s no cost and no pressure to decide that day. You can also ask AgeWays about adult day programs, caregiver support groups and MI Choice eligibility.

About the author

Elizabeth Snyder Corman is the owner of Home Helpers Home Care of Ann Arbor, serving families in Ann Arbor, Saline, Dexter, Chelsea, Pinckney, and Whitmore Lake. Before opening the agency, she served as a hospital chaplain through the COVID-19 pandemic and as a hospice chaplain, walking with families through some of the hardest transitions of their lives. She holds an M.Div.