Relief assistance is a service provided for individuals or families with burdensome caregiving duties. Relief assistance is meant to help caregivers lead healthy lives and have time for holiday and leisure activities.
Do you have caregiving duties and need relief from them? The municipality can provide relief from these duties, for example, in the form of home help services, day-time services or respite care at nursing homes. Relief is meant to give you space for normal leisure time, opportunities to travel on holiday and time to maintain your social network.
Those who provide care to the elderly, physically disabled or other individuals dependent on care.
You must have particularly burdensome care duties. Factors that may be taken into consideration include:
The municipality, in consultation with you as an applicant, will determine which services will be provided.
The service is free.
This is a statutory service under the Health Care Act. See
Section 3-6 Municipal responsibility for health care services of the Health Care Act
Section 2-8 Measures for especially burdensome caregiving duties of the Patient Rights Act.
You can contact the municipality for assistance with applying for relief assistance. The care provider and the individual in need of assistance can both apply for relief assistance.
The municipality will obtain the information necessary for making a decision on the case. It will then come to a decision. You will normally receive an explanation together with the notification of the decision. You will always receive an explanation if there is a possibility that you will be dissatisfied with the decision. If an explanation is not included, you can obtain one by enquiring with the municipality within the deadline for appeals to the decision.
The municipality will process the case as soon as possible. If a decision cannot be reached on the case within one month, you will receive a written message stating the reason as to why. You will also be informed of when the decision is expected to be made.
If you are dissatisfied with the decision, you can appeal to the municipality within three weeks from the date on which you received it. The care provider and the individual in need of assistance can both appeal the decision. Explain what you are dissatisfied with and why you believe the decision should be changed. If you need guidance, you can enquire with the municipality. If the municipality upholds its decision, the case will be passed on to the county governor, who will determine whether the appeal should be sustained.