Respite care for family caregivers in Aurora, CO: options, costs, and who to call

What respite actually looks like

Respite comes in three shapes. In-home respite means a caregiver comes to the house for a block of hours: the common pattern is a few mornings a week, or one long day. Daytime programs for older adults, like those at the Aurora Center for Active Adults, cover weekday hours. Overnight or multi-day respite means someone else holds the night shift while you sleep in your own bed downstairs, or while you are out of town entirely.

The work itself is ordinary and essential: meals, dressing, bathing reminders, medication reminders, conversation, a walk. Non-medical respite does not include medical tasks. If your family member needs medical care at home, that is a different service and the doctor's discharge planner can point you toward it. Naming which kind you need, before you start calling agencies, saves everyone a wasted phone call.

Most families start smaller than they think they need to. A first block is often three or four hours on a morning when another relative is in town but busy, or on a weekday so the primary caregiver can finally sleep. The point of the first block is not full coverage; it is proof, for everyone in the house, that the day survives with somebody else in it. Once that proof exists, building the rest of the schedule is ordinary planning instead of a leap.

How the hours work with us

Our in-home visits have a three-hour minimum, because a caregiver arriving for a single hour mostly delivers commute time. The rate in Aurora and the rest of the Denver metro is $43 an hour, so a three-hour morning of respite runs $129 before anything else is scheduled. Live-in care runs at a flat $650 a day when a family needs longer stretches covered, such as the week of a wedding or a surgery of your own. There is no long-term contract, so a family can use respite for one hard month and pause after.

Most families start with a free 20-minute phone consultation, then a free in-home assessment at the home or by video. That conversation is where you say what you actually need covered: Tuesday and Thursday mornings, bath time on Sundays, the two weeks in January when all three children are out of state. From there we match a caregiver on skills and personality, and you meet them before the first paid visit. Questions about hours or scheduling start at (303) 757-1777.

Trying a first block without upending the house

Write the routine down before the first visit, on the same refrigerator sheet the family already uses: wake time, meals, medications, the walk, what upsets him, what calms her. A caregiver following a written routine on their first morning does better than one reconstructing the day from a phone call. The sheet is also how you notice, a month in, which parts of the routine no longer fit, instead of letting them quietly fade.

Plan to be nearby for that first block, not gone. Some families sit in the driveway; some run an errand across town with their phone on loud. The goal of week one is a handoff that sticks, not distance. By the third or fourth block, most households find the caregiver has a rhythm the person actually likes, and leaving the house stops feeling like an experiment. That is the moment respite starts doing its job.

Aurora programs built for caregiver breaks

The Colorado Respite Coalition, a program of Easterseals Colorado, exists to encourage caregivers to take a break. It runs a Resource Finder tool, a caregiver wellness toolkit, and respite weekends; the contact number is 303-233-1666 x8. Its tools are built for exactly the question families in Aurora ask when the paid hours start to strain the budget: what else exists besides paying privately for every hour of relief.

Arapahoe County's Senior Resources line, 303-738-8080, lists programs at no cost to the client, including a Homemaker Program for light housekeeping for income-eligible households and Chore Services for seasonal yard work and major cleaning. Those are not caregiving, but they take the second job off your list so the caregiving hours you give are actually rested ones. Call the line and describe the household; the staff there know which programs apply and which do not.

Days out, not just hours covered

Aurora's older-adult programs are for ages 50 and older and run at the Aurora Center for Active Adults alongside the Central Recreation Center and the Southeast Recreation Center and Fieldhouse. The city's 50-plus program page lists excursions, volunteer opportunities, and a Reserve an Action Trackchair adaptive mobility device, which matters when getting out of the house requires more than a walker.

The city also runs seasonal farmers markets alongside region-specific markets spread through Aurora, with locally-sourced produce and international offerings, per Visit Aurora's markets page. A Saturday market run with the person you care for, followed by a covered lunch at home, beats a medical appointment for morale. For a quieter option, Aurora Reservoir is one of the city's named open spaces, the kind of flat, open outing that works with a folding chair in the trunk.

Rides that make respite possible

If part of your break depends on your family member getting somewhere themselves, RTD's SeniorShopper is shopping transportation for seniors who would otherwise have difficulty riding fixed route service or driving. It picks up groups of ten or more at senior housing complexes and community centers, and operates on weekdays only. RTD's own page prints no reservation phone, so call RTD to confirm how to book in Aurora.

Arapahoe County lists VIA Mobility Services for wheelchair-equipped rides to medical appointments, dining centers, and groceries, phone 303-447-2848, with Spanish-language intake at 303-444-3043. VIA also runs a self-service portal for booking. Rides like these are what let a caregiver hand off the transport part of the day and get three hours back.

A day outside the house

Cherry Creek State Park sits inside Aurora at 4201 South Parker Road, phone 303-690-1166. The park centers on an 880 surface-acre reservoir within a 4,200-acre recreation haven, with 35 miles of multiuse trails, 15 of them paved. A flat paved loop with a bench along the way is respite that happens outdoors, and the park sells Aspen Leaf annual passes for visitors 64 and older (check current fees before you buy).

When you need a person rather than a place, 211 Colorado connects you: dial 2-1-1 or (866) 760-6489, or search online at search.211colorado.org. The database holds more than 6,500 services across Colorado, backed by more than 2,500 agencies. And for the breaks only an agency can staff, with a real caregiver in the house, our line is (303) 757-1777.

Local resources in Aurora

• The Colorado Respite Coalition is a program of Easterseals Colorado that exists to encourage caregivers to take a break, with a Resource Finder tool, caregiver wellness toolkit, and respite weekends; contact 303-233-1666 x8. Source
• Arapahoe County's Senior Resources line is 303-738-8080; its programs are free to the client and include a Homemaker Program (light housekeeping, income-eligible) and Chore Services (seasonal yard work, major cleaning). Source
• Aurora's older-adult programs are for ages 50 and older, offered at the Central Recreation Center and the Southeast Recreation Center and Fieldhouse alongside the Aurora Center for Active Adults. Source
• Aurora's 50-plus program page lists excursions, volunteer opportunities, and a 'Reserve an Action Trackchair' adaptive mobility device. Source
• Cherry Creek State Park is at 4201 South Parker Road, Aurora, CO 80014, phone 303-690-1166. Source
• Cherry Creek State Park centers on an 880 surface-acre reservoir within a 4,200-acre recreation haven, with 35 miles of multiuse trails (15 paved) and 133 campsites; Aspen Leaf passes for 64+ and Centennial and Columbine passes exist (check current fees). Source
• RTD describes SeniorShopper as shopping transportation for seniors who would otherwise have difficulty riding fixed route service or driving, picking up groups of ten or more at senior housing complexes and community centers, weekdays only. Source
• Arapahoe County lists VIA Mobility Services for wheelchair-equipped rides to medical appointments, dining centers, and groceries, phone 303-447-2848 (Espanol: 303-444-3043), with a self-service portal at viamobility.ecolane.com. Source
• Visit Aurora's markets page states the city has a variety of seasonal farmer's markets alongside region-specific markets throughout the city, with locally-sourced produce and international markets. Source
• 211 Colorado can be reached by dialing 2-1-1 or (866) 760-6489 or through online search at search.211colorado.org, and its database holds more than 6,500 services backed by more than 2,500 agencies. Source
• Aurora's trail pages name Aurora Reservoir among the city's trails and open spaces. Source

More resources for Aurora families

• Dementia Care at Home in Aurora, CO
• Home Care After a Hospital Stay in Aurora, CO
• How to Choose a Home Care Agency in Aurora, CO
• Paying for Home Care in Aurora, CO