Being a caregiver for someone severely ill can be a difficult and time-consuming. For the caregiver who is new, absorbing the new responsibility into an already busy life can be overwhelming. This article provides some organizational tips that reduce the time and effort required to complete the essential tasks, and helps to reduce your stress at the same time.
Communication
During my caregiving experience I found that communicating with friends and family members for updates was an overwhelming task. The same info multiple times takes time. To communicate information to an even larger, but more interested group of people think about creating an online blog or sending out an e-mail to send out updates one time rather than multiple times. Comments on blog posts or e-mail responses can occur at a time convenient for the caregiver, rather than every time a phone rings. Controlling the need for communication can reduce stress and anxiety associated with numerous interruptions during your day. I discovered that using blogs for communication can also help reduce issues that arise from misinterpreting information when it goes between people. E-mails or blogs serve as an "single source" of truth.
Medical History
A person who is severely ill usually requires numerous visits to specialists, doctors and hospitals. One of the most frequently asked questions from health professionals was about medications that the patient takes. The most frequent were questions regarding other health providers and insurance companies, pharmacies, past surgeries, and allergies. Inputting this information in an organized location, whether manually or electronically, will ensure that you have all of the details readily available when needed. When maintained, this helps to reduce medical errors. Trying to recall information at a hospital or during an emergency is difficult and often results in the omission of critical information or sharing incorrect information. A side benefit is a reduced stress level of the person caring for.
Medication List
A person who is severely ill frequently requires a variety of medication. Again, if you keep all medications in a single location along with a dosing schedule you can avoid mistakes with medication. This also lets you assign the responsibility of providing medications with others when needed, giving you the freedom to divide the burden and take on other tasks. When maintained the list of medications provides an easy way to recall the information when requested by health care professionals as well as emergency service personnel.
Medicine Information
When taking many medications, the chance of adverse reactions increases significantly. Pharmacies provide medicine information sheets for the medication they dispensate. The information on medicine is also available on the Internet. Keeping the medicine information together in one place allows you to locate quickly the information you require, should you suspect that someone you care for has problems with medication. With a serious illness you realize that many doctors are prescribing medications. This list will help you keep all doctors updated to help avoid issues at the beginning. If an adverse reaction does happen, doctors often have alternatives to medication.
Calendar
The patient who is severely ill usually requires numerous health care appointments. I suggest using a calendar to keep track of each appointment. It does not really matter whether it is an electronic or paper version. The calendar is accessible and reduces the difficulties of planning too much on one day or creating overlapping appointments.
None of the tips I provide are revolutionary but each of these small organizing tips will add to a larger sum over time. Our minds are incredible but often overwhelmed when we try to address too many topics at one time or try to remember too many things. Freeing the mind from the details allows you to focus on the truly important topics or other tasks. Freeing the mind of the details can help ease the stress that comes with you are responsible for caring for your loved ones.
Suddenly a Caregiver
A family's story and lessons learned to guide you deal with the unanticipated obligation of being a caregiver for Caregiving your family.