Health and social care Participants make use of many different health and social care services, including day care, home help, support groups and respite care. Resilient participants are more likely to acknowledge their own limitations and know when to take a break. Eight out of twenty participants in our sample refer to some form of respite care and four of them use it. Those who use respite are classified as more resilient than those who do not so it represents an important facilitator of resilience: I’m getting respite on a weekend. I really do know the meaning of recharging my batteries now. I feel more… on the Monday morning right let’s get on with the day. (Mrs C., P13, L22; resilient) Some participants like the idea of respite care but do not know that it is available to them: If carers could get respite care on a regular basis that’d be a most wonderful thing because it would give them the strength to go on, wouldn’t it? Rejuvenate them. (Mrs La., P11, L19; not resilient) By reducing or temporarily removing the objective burden caused by the care recipient, the participant has an opportunity to ‘recharge’ some of the individual assets of resilience. Although respite care facilitates resilience for both carer and care recipient, not all participants draw upon it. It is our non-resilient participants who are least likely to use this service; either they are unaware of the service; do not know how to acquire it; or feel that they are not ready for it. Other services Some participants take part in unique innovative services which facilitate resilience: We helped make a DVD for [local health service]. They interviewed the two of us together…His theme song for that is always look on the bright side of life [laughs]; the Monty Python one. (Mrs C., P9, L17; resilient)
Health and social care Participants make use of many different health and social care services, including day care, home help, support groups and respite care. Resilient participants are more likely to acknowledge their own limitations and know when to take a break. Eight out of twenty participants in our sample refer to some form of respite care and four of them use it. Those who use respite are classified as more resilient than those who do not so it represents an important facilitator of resilience: I’m getting respite on a weekend. I really do know the meaning of recharging my batteries now. I feel more… on the Monday morning right let’s get on with the day. (Mrs C., P13, L22; resilient) Some participants like the idea of respite care but do not know that it is available to them: If carers could get respite care on a regular basis that’d be a most wonderful thing because it would give them the strength to go on, wouldn’t it? Rejuvenate them. (Mrs La., P11, L19; not resilient) By reducing or temporarily removing the objective burden caused by the care recipient, the participant has an opportunity to ‘recharge’ some of the individual assets of resilience. Although respite care facilitates resilience for both carer and care recipient, not all participants draw upon it. It is our non-resilient participants who are least likely to use this service; either they are unaware of the service; do not know how to acquire it; or feel that they are not ready for it. Other services Some participants take part in unique innovative services which facilitate resilience: We helped make a DVD for [local health service]. They interviewed the two of us together…His theme song for that is always look on the bright side of life [laughs]; the Monty Python one. (Mrs C., P9, L17; resilient)