Organizing Home Care for an Older Adult

This is the second post reflecting my current experiences. Thanks for indulging my use of my life as a blog subject.

Now that my mother is out of rehab, where an entire team managed her care, I have taken on that job. If you find yourself in the same situation and aren’t able to handle all the details, find a geriatric care managers, who do this for a living. You can start out by consulting the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers.

In order to keep track of all the phone calls, appointments, home visits and equipment, I started with a binder. I created one document on my computer (you could hand-write on paper, too) that lists all the procedures my mother has undergone, with the dates and names of doctors; all the people I have spoken to in person and on the phone, regarding her issues; names and phone numbers of every agency and organization that I’ve contacted; and her ID numbers. When I am away from my computer, I write notes in my planner and add them to document. If you are writing notes on paper, keep them all in the same notebook or tablet.

Because my mother has assistance at home, I created a calendar with the names of each caregiver and the shifts they work, along with the phone number of the home healthcare agency. The calendar is posted in her hallway, above a table that holds caregivers’ timesheets and my mother’s medical record.

In the kitchen, I posted a list of meal ideas so that the caregivers can offer her choices, based on foods she likes and has in the house; a list of activities she can do, a list of emergency phone numbers and her medication schedule.

Caring for an older adult is time consuming; all of these tasks (and many, many more) have kept me from fulfilling other responsibilities. Knowing who has to be where, when and for how long makes the process a little less overwhelming.

The same techniques that I’ve used to track my mother’s care could be used for anyone experiencing medical issues. Have you used any tools to help you cope with caring for someone at home?

Organized by MarcieTM: Save time and money by letting go of what you don't need and finding room for what you value

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