Give a carer two hours, not sympathy
The one thing carers cannot buy, borrow or manufacture is time when they are not responsible for anyone.
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Why it lands
Care is unrelenting in a way that sympathy does not touch: the constraint is that the person cannot leave the house. Respite is the only intervention that changes anything material, and it is the one thing almost nobody offers because it requires actually turning up. Two hours where somebody else is responsible is worth more than any amount of admiring how well they are coping.
How
Offer specific hours, not availability: “Could I come Thursday two till four so you can go out?” Learn the routine beforehand so they are not training you. Insist they leave the house — most will otherwise do laundry.
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