Accessing other forms of community care

Many ill people and families need to access other forms of community care. For example, an ill person may access hospice care (see palliative care), or caregivers may need access to respite care. Respite care might include a caregiver coming into the home to give the family caregiver a break, or day care or overnight facilities might be available to ill people, thus providing a respite from family caregiving in the home. Affected children may also be able to access after-school care or day care. In addition, access to support groups, voluntary counselling and testing services, spiritual support and guidance services, educational campaigns and other forms of community care might also be helpful. Accessing these forms of community support helps to build community capacity within a continuum of care framework.