Objective: To explore the detrimental effects of caregiver burden, in relation to caregivers of people with dementia, and highlight caregiver burden as an emerging healthcare problem. The purpose of the literature review is to inform healthcare professionals of the barriers to utilising community respite services by caregivers and discuss the significance of respite services to caregivers of people with dementia. Background: Dementia is one of the leading contributors to burden of disease and disability. Increasing numbers of spouse and family caregivers play crucial roles in providing support for people with dementia enabling them to continue living in the community. Caregiver burden occurs in individuals when the demands of caregiving exceeds their resources. Community respite services are valuable resources which provide individuals a break from their caregiving role. Study design and methods: The literature review will draw attention to caregivers of people living with dementia in the community and their utilisation of community respite services. The target audience are healthcare professionals in multidisciplinary community teams composed of clinicians, educators, managers, administrators, and researchers. Seven online databases were accessed to search the following terms of caregiver burden, dementia care and community respite along with specific inclusion criteria. As a result, 26 scholarly articles were reviewed for the purpose of this literature review. Results: There are several community respite services, which help minimise the incidence of caregiver burden, available to caregivers of people with dementia but there are many barriers which affect utilisation of these services. Some of these barriers include accessibility of information on respite services, flexibility and affordability of respite services, and the caregiver's inability to recognise their need for respite services. Discussion: Healthcare professionals could assist caregivers to better utilise community respite services by performing through assessments on both people with dementia and their caregivers. As a result of these assessments, potential barriers to community respite service utilisation could be identified. Conclusion: Community respite services are essential to minimising the incidence of caregiver burden. Healthcare professionals should recognise these barriers to respite service use and implement strategies to increase service utilisation. Implications for research, policy, and practice: Further research is required to investigate the specific types of respite service caregivers need and which respite services have been most successful for caregivers. This knowledge can assist healthcare professionals in improving utilisation rates of respite services and inform health systems on where to focus the funding of their community resources for people with dementia and their caregivers.
