Caregiving for someone who is seriously ill is difficult and time-consuming. For the new caregiver, taking on the responsibility of a new caregiver in the already hectic life of a caregiver can be overwhelming. This article will provide some organization strategies that will reduce time and effort required to complete the tasks required and help to ease your anxiety at the same time.
Communication
During my caregiving experience I found that communicating with family and friends to update information was a daunting task. Communicating the same data repeatedly times is time-consuming. To communicate information to a wider, yet interested group of people think about creating a blog or e-mail to update information once instead of multiple times. Comments on blog posts or e-mail replies can happen at a time convenient for the caregiver, rather than every when a phone rings. Controlling the need for communications reduces stress and anxiety associated with numerous interruptions during your day. I found that using blogs for communication can also help reduce issues with misinterpreting information at it passes from one person to another. The blog or e-mail serves to be an "single source" of truth.
Medical History
A seriously ill patient often requires numerous visits to doctors, specialists and hospitals. The most frequent and frequently asked questions from health professionals was about medications taken by the patient. The most frequent were questions regarding other health providers and insurance companies and pharmacy services, previous surgeries and allergies. Inputting this information in an organized location, whether by hand or electronically, makes sure you have all the information easily accessible when you need it. When maintained, this helps to minimize medical mistakes. Trying to recall information at the hospital or in an emergency can be difficult. It often leads to omission of crucial details 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 numerous medications. If you record all medications to one place along with a dosing schedule you help to avoid mistakes with medication. This also lets you assign the responsibility of providing medication to others as needed, giving you the freedom to divide the burden and take on other tasks. When maintained the list of medications provides an easy recall of the information when requested by health professionals or emergency personnel.
Medicine Information
When you take multiple medications, the potential of adverse reactions increases significantly. Pharmacies will provide information on medicines when they are dispensing medicines. Medicine information is also available on the Internet. The fact that you can keep all the information about medicines in one place enables you to locate quickly the information you need, if you suspect the one you care for has issues with their medications. If you suffer from a serious illness you realize that many doctors prescribe medications. The list can help keep your doctors up-to-date to prevent issues at the beginning. If a side effect does happen, doctors often have alternatives to medication.
Calendar
The patient who is severely ill usually needs multiple health visits. I suggest keeping a schedule to keep track of all appointments. It does not really matter whether you use an electronic or paper version. Having the calendar available minimizes the difficulties of scheduling too many appointments in one day or creating overlapping appointments.
The tips I provide Caregiving are revolutionary but each of these little organizational tips add to a larger sum in time. Our minds are incredible but often overwhelmed when we try to deal with too many issues at one time or try to keep track of too many things. Freeing the mind from the details lets you concentrate on the most important subjects or other activities. Freeing the mind of the details can also help reduce the anxiety you experience when you are responsible for caring for your loved one.
Suddenly a Caregiver
A family's story along with lessons to guide you deal with the unanticipated task of becoming a family caregiver.