Top Ten Things For Caregivers To Start Doing Now

Here is a great list of action steps that can help you serve as an effective elder caregiver. This is posted on Gary Barg's Caregiver site. He is a fierce advocate for elder caregivers.
1.

Keep records of all medications and reactions: make notes about what works, what doesn’t and when you informed the physician of any problems.

2.

Keep records of all doctor appointments: the reason for the visit, the doctor’s responses to our concerns, any procedures performed, etc.

3.

Start or continue to maintain copies of medical records for your loved one, and for yourself, as well. These will be beneficial should a grievance arise or if there are questions about medical histories.

4.

Plan for the unexpected: discuss plans and wishes of everyone involved in the caregiving family. Talk about final resting places and what arrangements your family will want.

5.

Have an Advance Directive filled out and given to the primary physician and all relatives who may need the form.

6.

Have a Last Will and Testament completed or updated: without a signed Will, the courts will decide how to distribute the possessions of your loved ones.

7.

Keep a record of where all-important documents are kept. When an emergency or tragedy occurs, locating information should not be where we spend our thoughts and energies.

8.

Record all monetary involvements: investments, resources creditors, debtors, business transactions, etc.

9.

Have an insurance analysis done: is your home, life and health insurance still appropriate for your family’s needs? What about the insurance policies for your loved ones? Do you all have enough coverage to take care of any eventuality? Do you have provisions for long-term care? For respite care? Is your house adequately covered given the state of the weather patterns?

10.

Clean out the medicine chest. Look for expiration dates on all medicine, and check with your doctor about previous medications which will either be harmful with current prescriptions or which are no longer effective for you or your loved one. Not only will you save space, you might also save a life.

Caregivers and the Internet

Here is a helpful article posted in CareGiver Magazine by By Helen Hunter, ACSW, CMSW

There is almost no industry that hasn’t benefited from the accessibility, speed and convenience of the Internet, from entertainment to education, so why not health-care? It is estimated that 40% of Internet users seeking health information went on-line because they had a loved-one diagnosed with a serious medical condition, according to Gomez Advisors, a leading research source for e-businesses. Currently, there is an estimated 110 million Americans using the Internet and 70 million of them are in search of health information. There are numerous, informative health sites on the Internet in existence and more keep popping up daily

Caregiver/Lifeline MedCom’s Worldwide Medical Retrieval System provides a personal medical data storage unit, on-line for caregivers and their loved-ones. The service can be accessed through our web site at www.caregiver.com. The information entered on the site is “member supplied” so caregivers may want to check with their loved-one’s doctor for medical data accuracy. The medical records are then stored in a secure central database that is protected by a special identification coding system that fully encrypts and protects data from invasion After caregivers register their care-recipient’s health information with the site, a membership card arrives in the mail with their user ID numbers and password. It’s recommended that this card be carried with the caregiver or loved-one at all times. Once the registration procedure is completed, the loved-one’s medical records can be accessed within minutes from anywhere in the world through the web site or the companies toll free number. The phone number immediately goes to a fax-on-demand system that allows the medical records to be sent to a designated fax machine. According to Mark McCoy, President and CEO of Lifeline MedCom, “The emergency data retrieval system gives the caregiver and their loved-one the security of having their historical medical records easily passed and accessed in case of an emergency.” This site is also beneficial for new doctor or specialist visits, children’s daycare, school or sporting medical information requirements and travel.

There are a few things a caregiver should be weary of when using the Internet for health-care advice and information:

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Never self-diagnose or self-treat you or your loved-one, always seek the opinion of a professional
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Don’t believe every health web site is credible- be on guard for quackery.
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If a site offers a cure for an incurable disease, it’s probably not true.
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Be aware of privacy policies so that your information isn’t being shared with the rest of the world.
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Keep a look out for advertisements in disguise as health-care sites; their information may not be objective.


These tips are not to frighten the caregiver away from using the Internet as a valuable information tool but merely warn them of the potential for faulty data and marketing plows. There are many substantial web sites like the one represented in this article that provide unbeatable quality and care for caregivers and their loved-ones. Remember that assistance and resources are just a few simple mouse clicks away!