Caregiving for someone who is seriously ill is difficult and time-consuming work. The new caregiver's task of absorbing the new responsibility into the already hectic life of a caregiver is a challenge. This article provides some organizational tips that reduce the time and effort to perform the tasks required and help to lessen stress .
Communication
In my time of caregiving I realized that communicating with family and friends to update information was a daunting task. Sharing the same information repeatedly times is time-consuming. If you want to share information with an even larger, but more interested group of people, consider creating blogs or email addresses to provide updates once instead of repeatedly. Responding to blog comments or e-mail replies can happen at a time that is convenient for the caregiver rather than each time the phone rings. Controlling the need for communications reduces anxiety and stress that comes with many interruptions in your day. I discovered that using a blog to facilitate communication also reduced the issues with misinterpreting information at it passes between people. The blog or e-mail serves as your "single source" of truth.
Medical History
A patient who is seriously ill often requires numerous visits to specialists, doctors, and hospitals. The most frequent and frequently asked questions by health care professionals included medication taken by the patient. The most frequent were inquiries about other health professionals such as insurance, pharmacies, past surgeries and allergic reactions. Recording this information into an organized location, whether manually or electronically, makes sure you have all the information readily available when needed. When maintained, this helps to prevent medical errors. Trying to recall information at a hospital or during an emergency can be difficult and often leads to omission of vital information or sharing incorrect details. A side benefit is a reduced stress level for the caregiver.
Medication List
A patient who is seriously ill often requires multiple medications. Again, if you track all medications in a single location along with a dosing schedule you help to avoid medication errors. It also allows you to share the responsibility of providing medication to others as needed which allows you to share that workload and focus on other tasks. If the list is maintained, the medication list provides an easy recall of the information when requested by health care providers as well as emergency service personnel.
Medicine Information
When you take multiple medications, the chance of side effects is significantly increased. Pharmacies will provide information on medicines when dispensing medications. The information on medicine is also available through the Internet. The fact that you can keep all the information about medicines in one location enables you to locate quickly the information you require, if you suspect the one you take care of has problems with medication. If you suffer from a serious illness you find that a variety of doctors are prescribing medications. This list will help you keep your doctors up-to-date to prevent issues from the onset. If an adverse reaction occurs, doctors usually have alternatives to medication.
Calendar
The seriously ill person often needs multiple health visits. I recommend using a calendar to record each appointment. It is not a big deal whether it's a paper or electronic version. Having the calendar available minimizes the problems with scheduling too many appointments in one day or creating overlapping appointments.
The tips I offer are groundbreaking, but each of these little organizing tips will add to a larger sum in time. Our minds are powerful, but often Companion overwhelmed when trying to address too many topics at one time or try to remember too many things. Freeing the mind from the details lets you focus on the important subjects or other activities. The freedom from details can help ease the stress that comes with carrying the responsibility of caring for your loved ones.
Suddenly a Caregiver
A family's experiences and lessons learned to guide you deal with the unanticipated responsibility of being a family caregiver.