Help relative, in a way (6)
I believe the answer is:
assist
'help' is the definition.
(assisting is a kind of helping)
'relative in a way' is the wordplay.
'relative' becomes 'sis' (short for sister).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'way' becomes 'st'.
'a'+'st'='ast'
'sis' going within 'ast' is 'ASSIST'.
(Other definitions for assist that I've seen before include "Help, lend a hand" , "Give aid" , "provide backing" , "Give a hand to" , "Be useful to" .)