2025 National Lifespan Respite Conference Tracks

 Discover through Research and Evaluation

As service providers and caregivers make a case for respite availability and funding, a solid evidence-base for respite is essential. Research provides an understanding of the health and well-being of family caregivers and the overall effect of respite on societal outcomes, including cost-benefits. Good data collection is important for continuous quality improvement in the respite we provide, and to ensure effective service delivery. This track is intended to present findings from evaluations of lifespan respite activities, respite models, and alternative respite and support interventions strategies. Presentations on meaningful performance measurement; needs assessments; and practices to assure diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all research and evaluation efforts would be especially welcome.

• Have you done research on innovative or exemplary respite service models?
• Have you examined the effectiveness or benefits of new virtual or alternative informal respite services that emerged during the pandemic?
• Have you documented significant caregiver or care recipient outcomes from respite? How does respite benefit the entire family?
• Have you conducted research on the effects of respite on communities that may be disparately impacted by caregiving responsibilities (e.g., Hispanic, LGBTQ+, etc.)?
• Have you explored the societal benefits of respite, including cost savings to government programs, health systems or employers?
• How can we take existing respite research and translate it into meaningful practice?
• Do you engage in meaningful data collection and performance measurement that documents how well you provide services? Do you use the data for quality improvement?
• Have you studied and documented systems change for respite, collaboration, or respite access?
• Have you documented that respite helps strengthen families and reduces abuse and neglect?

Refuel with Advocacy, Networking and Sustainability

We have come to understand that our collective efforts to sustain the important work we do in caregiving and respite is inextricably linked to the changing economic, social and political environment as well as to successful networking strategies and partnerships, especially with diverse, marginalized and under-resourced groups. Presentations may explore financing strategies for sustainability, unique partnerships, successful coalitions, legislative advocacy, and other elevated contexts for providing, promoting and sustaining respite.

• What partnerships have you fostered to promote or sustain respite services?
• Have you partnered with health systems or insurance companies to promote respite? With employers and businesses?
• What are your best practices in building or sustaining coalitions?
• What innovative approaches do you use to engage new partners in supporting your respite activities and what are your success stories in making collaboration work?
• How do you ensure cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity among your collaborators and in your coalitions?
• What business practices or technology have you used to ensure sustainability?
• What have you accomplished to embed your respite activities into larger state or county-wide health or social services systems?
• What do your long-term sustainability plans look like and how do you achieve them?
• Are you an advocate for respite? What strategies have you used to promote respite with policymakers, funders and other decision makers?

Launch Innovative Services and Systems

This track is designed to highlight successful models, innovations, and exemplary approaches to providing planned and crisis respite care for all ages, disability groups, and diverse populations. Newly raised and non-traditional approaches to respite for all populations can also be shared.

• Are your respite services on the cutting edge, offering new and innovative approaches to respite?
• Are your systems and services engaging and reflective of changes brought on by the pandemic?
• Are you engaging volunteers and diverse faith communities to provide respite?
• Are you serving families in meaningful ways across the age and disability spectrum, in rural and urban areas, or in culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse communities?
• How do you ensure diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in respite services?
• What strategies have you used to engage diverse communities and provide culturally and linguistically competent respite services?
• Have you and your partners identified young caregivers in your community and tailored services to meet their unique needs?
• Are your respite services person and family-centered? Do they allow self-directed services? Are respite services available during family crises or in emergency situations?
• How do you ensure the quality and safety of the respite services you provide?Have you developed new approaches or technologies to streamline easy access to services for family caregivers?

Propel the Respite Workforce

Proposals that focus on real-life solutions to the nationwide shortage of well-trained direct care workers and respite providers are welcome. Sessions should focus on ways to boost caregiver confidence in respite, including training to improve the safety and quality of care, and strategies to increase the pool of reliable, qualified, and culturally and linguistically competent respite providers and care options. Presentations that focus on innovative recruitment and retention strategies are encouraged.

• How are you engaged in helping to address the shortage of direct service workers?
• Do you provide innovative respite provider or volunteer recruitment strategies?
• Have you had success in building and maintaining a respite provider pool post-pandemic?
• Do you use proven or exciting new training curricula or cutting-edge learning approaches?
• Have you had success with virtual online training?
• Do you provide training that leads to professional career pathways?
• How do you recognize, support, and retain respite workers and volunteers?
• How have you engaged and successfully trained culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse respite providers to meet families’ and care recipients’ needs?
• Do you have expertise in specialized training in behavioral management, dementia, or complex medical needs?
• Have you engaged new partners, such as community colleges or universities, to help recruit and train respite workers?

Navigate Support for Working Caregivers

A significant majority of family caregivers, at least 60 percent, are in the labor force, but to enable them to continue to work and provide care, a more responsive and supportive workplace is needed. Not only are the health and financial well-being of these caregivers at-risk, businesses may be losing billions of dollars annually from lost productivity, replacement costs for employees who quit because of overwhelming caregiving responsibilities, absenteeism, and workday interruptions. This track is intended to explore successful strategies to ensure respite and other caregiver supports are available and accessible to working caregivers.

• How do you find, reach, and engage working caregivers to utilize respite?
• Have you modified the type of respite you provide or the times you offer respite services to accommodate the needs of working caregivers?
• What strategies have you used to identify and engage with employers?
• How have you partnered with employers to support working caregivers through respite and other caregiver supports?

Engage Family Caregivers

This track is geared toward family caregivers and those who work with family caregivers who want to learn more about successful caregiving strategies, meaningful respite, resources that support caregivers, and impactful stories related to the benefits of respite and caregiver wellness programs. This track also seeks sessions in which family caregivers share what they imagine their dream respite might be.

Service providers are encouraged to share how they engage family caregivers to use respite services as well as participate in respite and caregiving coalitions, planning, advocacy and evaluation. Successful public awareness campaigns, new messaging techniques and technologies, and strategies to engage diverse and marginalized communities are welcome.

If you are a family caregiver, what does respite mean to you?

• What would your dream respite look like?
• What do you need to encourage respite use and feel optimistic about using respite?
• What do you expect to get out of respite?
• How do you spend your respite time to feel rejuvenated and rested?
• What training do you wish respite providers possessed?
• I am a sibling or a young caregiver. Are there special respite services for me?

 If you are a service provider, how do you engage and educate family caregivers?

• Do you use innovative technology, video and TV, social media or other strategies to identify and educate family caregivers?
• What creative campaigns or messaging have you used to reach caregivers to share the importance of respite and how to access it?
• Do you prioritize in-person events across the state to reach family caregivers and provide information about respite?
• Are your engagement strategies person and family-centered?
• Do you make a concerted effort to reach family caregivers who are ineligible for public funding or who are geographically or culturally isolated from mainstream services?
• How do you reach culturally, ethnically, linguistically diverse and other marginalized populations, such as the LGBTQ+ populations, to ensure your reach is reflective of the diversity in your state?
• Are your outreach and education materials and communication strategies available in all major languages in your state?
• How do you engage other marginalized and under-resourced groups, such as immigrant communities?

Explore the Universe of Lifespan Respite

The Lifespan Respite track is designed to feature Lifespan Respite grantees and their partners to highlight their service delivery and systems change grant activities. Through the federal Lifespan Respite Program, the U.S. Administration for Community Living awards competitive grants to state agencies in partnership with state respite coalitions and others to develop statewide coordinated systems of community-based respite services for family caregivers; provide gap-filling planned and emergency respite; and build respite capacity through provider training and recruitment and new volunteer and faith-based initiatives.

Current and former Lifespan Respite grantees and their partners are encouraged to submit a proposal for the Lifespan Respite Track that describes best practices, program successes, and challenges experienced in their Lifespan Respite grant implementation or coalition activities. Some topics in this track might include, but are not limited to:

• Innovative service delivery
• Effects of changes to respite or grant activities as a result of the pandemic
• Collaborative partnerships (e.g., with No Wrong Door Systems and Aging and Disability Resource Centers, employers, medical community or managed care organizations)
• Respite registries
• Engaging volunteers or the faith community
• Respite provider training and recruitment
• Public awareness and messaging to engage diverse populations
• Ensuring Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in respite services
• Defining a coordinated Lifespan Respite system for improved respite access that links family caregivers to services, respite funding sources, and information
• Sustainability plans
• Fact-finding and data management