Newswise — About half of all people who are caring for a sick, elderly, or disabled loved one have no additional help. Caregiver's Handbook: A guide to caring for the ill, elderly, disabled ... and yourself, a newly revised report from Harvard Medical School, suggests the following tips to help caregivers streamline their efforts to coordinate care for their loved ones.
1. Get organized. File paperwork under key topics: medical care, benefits, resources, assisted living, nursing homes, and so on. 2. Keep the person's medical history and medications list handy. Store these in a binder in which you log conversations—to whom you spoke, when, and what was suggested. Highlight steps that you'll handle yourself or will dole out to others.3. Coordinate medical care. Ideally, one doctor should do this, but it may be up to you to keep everyone in the loop. Each doctor should know what the others suggest and what medications the patient is taking. 4. Ask until you have answers. Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for simpler explanations, a breakdown of the risks and benefits of a particular treatment, or a second opinion. If medical personnel or answers are elusive, keep pressing your case. 5. Be informed. Gathering basic information through reputable Internet sites and national organizations can help prepare you for challenging decisions. For information on health conditions, the National Institutes of Health's MedlinePlus Web site (http://medlineplus.gov) offers reliable information on hundreds of topics. 6. Be present. At the hospital, it helps to have an extra set of eyes and hands whenever possible. Tell staff if you notice confused or erratic behavior. Sometimes medications, dehydration, pain, or the stresses of surgery or hospitalization trigger delirium or agitation, especially in older people. 7. Network. Get recommendations on nursing homes or home health care from social workers, doctors, nurses, friends, family members, and co-workers.
Caregiver's Handbook: A guide to caring for the ill, elderly, disabled ... and yourself is available for $16 from Harvard Health Publications, the publishing division of Harvard Medical School. Order it online at http://www.health.harvard.edu/CG or by calling 1-877"649"9457 (toll free).
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