The Conscious Caregiver by Linda Abbit

Author:Linda Abbit
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Adams Media

EXERCISE: Start a Medical Health Journal

Start a medical health journal with and for your care recipient. This is where to record the date and notes taken after visits to every doctor, dentist, and other medical care provider. Write your care recipient’s personal information in one section, such as Social Security and Medicare numbers. Include information about any secondary insurance or long-term care insurance policies he has.

Include a page with complete contact information for all doctors and health care providers your loved one sees. Indicate which is the preferred way to communicate with each: telephone, email, and/or text.

As a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), patient care paperwork includes a privacy release form listing who, in addition to the patient, should be made privy to medical issues, test results, and treatment options. Encourage your loved one to include all family caregivers on the authorization, including those living nearby and those far away. Put copies of the signed form in the medical health journal.

List your loved one’s medical conditions and any allergies or other special medical information, such as if he has a pacemaker. Write down all medications taken (prescription, over-the-counter, and herbal), strength, dosages, side effects experienced, and how long he will be taking them. Include complete contact information for his or her preferred pharmacy.

If your loved one is diagnosed with a chronic or life-threatening illness, keep an overall timeline of medical events from diagnosis on, including treatments received and those scheduled for the future. Also record all related tests and lab work done, with all results received.

Help your loved one complete a durable power of attorney for health care (also known as an advance directive) to include in the journal. This legal document appoints a trusted person, called a health care proxy or health care power of attorney, to be his or her agent to make any necessary health care decisions. The appointed health care proxy must follow the medical treatments and/or life-sustaining measures written in this document in the event that the care recipient can’t speak for herself. Usually the primary family caregiver is given these powers.

There is a new form called Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) that translates a patient’s wishes into detailed medical orders that go beyond the content in an advance directive. The POLST document is geared toward those with serious illnesses or who are close to the end of their life. Your loved one and her physician sign it after detailed discussions about your loved one’s wishes, health care goals, and desired treatments. Family disputes about health issues can be avoided if your care recipient has documented her end-of-life wishes in these legal documents. It is never too early to have them completed and executed.

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