LifeCourse Tools for Respite
Tools
Training
Read More on Charting the LifeCourse Nexus
Exploring Respite Opportunities and Options
Charting the LifeCourse Nexus housed at the at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Institute for Human Development, in collaboration with the ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center, developed Charting the LifeCourse Respite materials. The materials include a Respite guide book, portfolio and other tools meant to help family caregivers caring for anyone of any age or disability and those who support them create a plan to access respite services within and outside the formal services system.
The purposes are to provide:
-
information on the importance of respite for the well-being of the family caregiver and all family members;
-
tools for thinking about and planning for respite; and
-
additional resources for finding respite in the community.
Getting Started
It is important for caregivers and their families to make a plan to incorporate respite into their lives long before exhaustion, isolation and feelings of being overwhelmed have set in. Advanced planning also allows for respite to be customized to meet the unique needs of the family members and provide enjoyable and meaningful experiences for everyone.
View and dowload the tools here:
Charting the LifeCourse:
|
My LifeCourse Respite Portfolio |
Integrated Supports Schedule |
 |
  |
 |
Please find additional resources in Exploring Respite Opportunities and Options for helping to populate your Integrated Star in the Respite Portfolio! These resources include informal community, relationship or technology supports that might provide respite opportunities or respite enhancements outside the formal respite services system as well as formal respite services suggestions. If you think of more ideas, send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and will add them to the list!
Exploring Respite Opportunities and Options |
Respite Integrated Supports - Starter Star |
 |
 |
We welcome your feedback on the Respite Tools. Please feel free to provide feedback here!
Training on LifeCourse Principles
Read more about using the respite tools at Charting the LifeCourse Nexus.
Webinar on Charting the LifeCourse Respite Tools. Watch here.
This webinar provides an introduction for those new to the LifeCourse Respite Tools, and a quick refresher for those who are more familiar with them. The webinar focused on how to best use the Tools when working with family caregivers to help them overcome barriers, find, plan for and use formal and informal respite services. Real life examples are presented by the NV LIfespan Respite Program and the St. Louis Arc respite voucher programs.
Charting the LifeCourse Tools for Respite: Examples from State Lifespan Respite Care Programs,
Virtual PowerPoint Presentation at the LifeCourse Showcase, April 13, 2022
During this presentation, an overview of the tools and the training used to educate the Lifespan Respite network on using the tools successfully with family caregivers was provided, including the importance of the tools during the pandemic when formal supports were unavailable. ARCH was joined by representatives from two Lifespan Respite initiatives in Alabama and Nevada who shared different ways they used the tools to offer caregivers person and family-centered respite options, adapted the tools to meet intended purposes, and gained success and benefits from using them.
Webinar on Charting the LifeCourse for Respite During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Watch here.
This webinar explored how to use the LifeCourse Tools for Respite during the coronavirus pandemic to help providers offer respite safely, and to guide family caregivers in using respite safely. Jane St. John also demonstrated how to use the tools to help develop strategies for family caregivers and care recipients to cope with the pandemic. Examples were presented on how the tools can be used to help family caregivers find balance as a caregiver, and help both caregivers and care receivers find alternative respite options and ways to socially distance and still live the good life!
Video on LifeCourse Principles. Watch here.
Learn the principles of the Charting the LifeCourse Framework with this video narrated by Michelle (Sheli) C. Reynolds, PhD, University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) Institute for Human Development, UCEDD.Release of the Tools
The tools were publicly released at the 2017 National Lifespan Respite Conference in Huntsville, AL. Guidance on how to use the Charting the LifeCourse respite materials can be found in this Power Point Presentation of Jane St. John, Community Inclusion Specialist and Field Research Specialist for the Missouri Family to Family team at the UMKC-Institute for Human Development at the 2017 ARCH National Lifespan Conference.
Stay tuned for additional training opportunities on how to best use the tools.