Some people expect to become caregivers in the future because they “stand in line” to inherit responsibility for caring for a family member. Others suddenly become caregivers after a tragic event dramatically changes someone’s life near them, and all eyes stare at them in the expectation that they will assume care for the affected ill or injured person.
Fate doesn’t select only those with medical training or a servant’s heart to care for others. The person designated for care often dreams of climbing the corporate ladder, going to college, having children, starting a business, or some other personal goal threatened by what may lie ahead.
How you become a caregiver impacts how you prepare to take on caregiving duties and adjust to the responsibilities. All situations resulting in you becoming a caregiver require you to perform the same duties, but when you need to accomplish them and when they are most critical may differ. Let me start by showing you a chart of steps all caregivers need to do early in assuming caregiver duties, and I’ll mark when the action will likely need completion.
Action | Soon After Event | Within a Few Weeks | Closer to Discharge |
Immediate Decisions |
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Obtain Medical Power of Attorney | Before event | ||
Obtain General Power of Attorney | Before event | ||
Advanced Directive | Before event | ||
Gather all available Medical History, drug allergies, and a list of doctors. | X | ||
ID, Insurance information, | X | ||
Notify the next of kin and the work and other commitments needing cancelation. | X | ||
Identify what bills need paying and who can pay them until you get POA. | X | ||
If there are children, who will care for them | X | ||
If there are animals, who will care for them | X | ||
If someone is disabled or elderly at home, who would care for them instead of the patient? | X | ||
Has anyone checked at home to ensure appliances are off, water is not running, and doors are locked? | X | ||
Next Few Days |
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Is someone picking up the mail and retrieving phone messages? (All communications, bills, emails, etc.) | X | ||
Has anyone gotten the patient a bag of personal supplies for the hospital if needed, taken home dirty things, and given them a phone charger and toothbrush? | x | ||
How will they get into the house upon arrival? Is a ramp needed to access the home or internally to access rooms? | x | ||
Determine home equipment needs. | x | ||
Where will the patient stay within the house? | x | ||
Will different adaptive furniture be needed? If so, what? | x | ||
How will you accomplish bathing and toileting? | X | ||
Will furniture movement be required to accommodate patient’s access to rooms? | x | ||
Do you need to hire care assistants? | x | ||
Do you have the means to make these changes? | x | ||
Do you need help with getting patient in/out of bed? | x | ||
Do you need additional training for lifting, moving, bathing, turning, feeding, or other care needs? | x | ||
Closer to the time to go home. |
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Do you think you can manage this at home? | x | ||
How will they call for help? | x | ||
How will they get home and to future appointments? | x | ||
Will there be an IV or catheter? | x | ||
Will they need home wounds or other treatments? | x | ||
What type of medications are needed? Is training needed? | x | ||
Check into an emergency alert system for the home. | x | ||
Are Entertainment accommodations needed? | x |
We’ll review the answers to these questions in the upcoming articles. Still, this one aims to help you organize your thoughts around the type of information you need to consider as you start planning for the changes you need to make in your home before the family member goes home. Only some have to do all these things, and some have to do more; it all depends on the patient, the home environment, the medical condition, and your support system. Each case is unique.
