I am going on holiday in November this year, my dad has dementia which is progressing and I want to have peace of mind he will be safe and looked after while I am away. Dad does have Carers’s 4 x daily but they have been hit and miss depending on who is on that day, I am an only child and I have my daughter who helps me look after dad but due to this being a special birthday she is coming with me, as normally we would have independent holidays so one of us stays at home to support my dad. It has been mentioned to me with regards to respite but I am not sure what I need to do or who to ask and the process any advice would be very gratefully received.
If he was never in the military or does not quality for A&A, you could still do exactly the same thing out of pocket - look into a SNF or AL that has availability for the time you will be gone and pay out of pocket - that would probably be cheaper in the long run than paying out of pocket for 24/7 in home care.
We did do 24/7 in home care for my FIL 2 years ago - with the help of A&A thankfully - I think they covered his normal 9 hours a week that he gets his bath aide covered plus an additional amount that he was covered for respite for the year. I know that amount has changed and I don't know how/if respite is still covered in the same way now. But they did cover some at that time. But the remainder he paid out of pocket. And that was something like $20-$25 per hour. They started out doing 3 shifts of 8 hours but ended up changing it to 2 shifts of 12 hours after a couple of days. We were gone a week. He did really well because he enjoyed having someone up with him all of his crazy hours that he keeps.
So it really depends on what kind of care you are looking for. Good luck. I will say when we decided on in home ( because he categorically refused to go anywhere) we put together a notebook of emergency numbers, lists of his medications, his doctors, favorite restaurants (for takeout), where things were in the house, anything we could think of that they might need - just in case he could not tell them something and they could not get a hold of us for some reason.
You probably just need to either "Google" respite care in my area or call around to facilities in your area.
Best wishes.