Specific Conditions

Washington continues to focus on improving access, developing and strengthening the respite system while taking into consideration certain health conditions, some of which are highlighted below.

Children with Special Health Care Needs: Accepting help to provide care to your child can be challenging; however, parents and other caregivers deserve a break and time to recharge themselves. The Lifespan Respite WA Voucher Program serves unpaid, unserved family caregivers caring for individuals of any age. These sites offer other types of help and resources:

Dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease

For information about various forms of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, reference the Alzheimer’s Association.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Down Syndrome: A Practical Guidebook for Caregivers. Produced by the National Down Syndrome Society with Alzheimer’s Association and the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices.

Dementia Road Map-A Guide for Families and Care Partners is produced by Dementia Action Collaborative, WA.

Dementia Legal Planning Toolkit: to help individuals with mild cognitive impairment or dementia think about the kinds of financial and health care decisions that need to be made. Includes some do-it-yourself legal forms to get started. Produced by Dementia Action Collaborative, WA.

Get it online at WashingtonLawHelp.org: Dementia Legal Planning Toolkit. Free paper copies: Order Form for Paper Version of Dementia Legal Planning Toolkit

“Let’s Talk Dementia“: Six brief videos featuring Washingtonians with dementia and their care partners, talking about the value of early diagnosis and what they suggest for living well with dementia. Courtesy of Dementia Action Collaborative.

Tip Sheets for Dementia Care: family caregivers will appreciate these short informative one-page documents, which can be read online, downloaded, or printed. Available in English, Español (Spanish), and やまと(Japanese) . Pick just the topic you need, or get them all in one document package (the package is in English and Spanish only at this time). Developed by Alzheimer’s Los Angeles and the Dementia Action Collaborative of Washington State.

Parkinson’s Disease

There are many active organizations working on research to treat and cure Parkinson’s Disease and support individuals living with PD and their caregivers. At Lifespan Respite WA, we focus on caregivers. Our team gathered resources from these organizations to help caregivers in their lives and their caregiving work. This list is For Care Partners/Caregivers of Individuals Living with Parkinson’s Disease.

Paralysis

The Here and Now Project serves the Pacific Northwest Paralysis Community. They have created thousands of meaningful connections between hundreds of individuals living with paralysis all over the Pacific Northwest and built a community of support that the newly paralyzed have come to trust as a tremendous resource for how to move forward after a life-changing injury or diagnosis.

Traumatic and Acquired Brain Injury

When someone suffers a violent blow or jolt to the head, a traumatic brain injury (TBI), may occur. Recovery from a brain injury can take a long time; sometimes it results in permanent changes to the brain, which may required long-term or permanent caregiving. If you are caring for a partner, spouse, child, relative, or close friend with TBI, it is important to recognize how stressful this situation can be and seek support services.

Concussion is a common form of brain injury. Concussions are sometimes known as “mild TBIs”, but for infants, children and youth whose brains are still developing, concussions can affect that development and cause long-term disabilities.

Parents can find useful information on spotting signs of a concussion at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a webpage on concussion recovery to use along with advice from their child’s doctor.

2-1-1-WA for Traumatic Brain Injury Resources (TBI). 2-1-1-WA is the Information & Referral Services organization for Washington residents of any age impacted by a traumatic brain injury (including concussion). This is the place to begin to get information and be referred to services. They have a new and extensive TBI resource page.

Other state-wide resources:

  • Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council‘s intent is to bring together expertise from the public and private sectors and includes individuals with a TBI, medical professionals serving individuals with TBI, human service providers, family members, caregivers and state agency representatives.

Acquired Brain Injury is a term used when brain damage has been caused by illness, stroke, dementia, or other conditions. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging or Aging and Disability Resource Center for Acquired Brain Injury resources for caregivers. Visit www.waclc.org or call 1-855-587-0252.