While caregivers are typically not medical doctors, nurses or part of the medical community, they are an integral part of the personal care that goes into properly managing the needs of your loved one. You must take care to make sure their needs are being met when it is in your power. Here are a few solutions for caregiver management.
Provide Support When Possible
Providing collaborative, supportive, positive work environs will foster the type of work space that will help make the caregiver happy. Allowing for instances of good, clear communication and feedback to address the appropriate needs and concerns, you give the caregiver and yourself peace of mind that everyone is looking out for the best interests of the person in care.
Ask Questions
If you have a concern or just something to discuss, speak up. Many times feelings or issues arise because we fail to address a perceived issue and just let the question fester with no resolution. Speak up and talk with the caregiver, they may be able to give you the insight you need to effectively manage both the person in care and the caregiver. The more you become acquainted with the caregiver, the more informed you and the caregiver will be.
Centralize Information
Being organized helps. Buy one binder for all important information. This way you won't be hunting around multiple locations when you need a single piece of information. In this binder include:
- Phone numbers for friends, relatives and medical providers
- Medical history including test results
- List of current medications
- Location of important documents such as a Will, DNR, and Power of Attorney.
Check the binder periodically to see if updates are necessary. The list of medications, in particular, is likely to change with time.
Share A Calendar
It's nice to know when a caregiver will come help your loved one. Likewise, they might like to know when you are available and when doctor's appointments are. Maintain a calendar that you share with your loved one's caregiver.
Caring Senior Service makes this easy through our Tendio software. We provide a tablet to each client, and our software has a built-in calendar that both family members and caregivers can view to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Say Thank You
It kind of goes without saying and definitely gets taken for granted, but this one small thing can do wonders for inspiring your caregiver. A caregiver puts so much into their work, and days can easily become weeks and months, so you want to make sure that you give praise when appropriate and at the very least say thank you. The stress and work load is enough to break any of us, so do this one small thing and at least put a smile on these folks faces.
Take time to get fully understand the caregiver and inform them of any concerns they may need to understand on the front end before any service is even done. The caregiver will be your first line of defense in case a need arises, so take the time to talk with them and build that relationship.
As you are learning to deal with the changes that aging can bring, be patient with yourself, patient with your loved one, seek advice and answers to questions, and remember you are not in this alone. Contact your local Caring Senior Service today!