Resources
If you haven’t realized it by now, healthcare is a money-making business. Somehow, once you become labeled with a chronic illness or severe injury, an announcement appears on a register somewhere that notifies a “secret society” with your name, address, and phone number (even though I thought HIPPA prevented that?). You start receiving mail and phone calls offering deals on medical equipment, supplies, resources, legal advice, and drugs. It seems you get information from everyone except the one you want. Finding what you need can be daunting and time-consuming because if you don’t use the correct terminology, the next thing you know, you’ve been directed to a porn site.
I’ve gathered two types of resources to help you get started in your searches. One has to do with government agencies – the types that require you to file paperwork to ask questions, get benefits, or help you do anything. All of them are connected to a local, state, or federal government agency.
The other one is about free community resources. Most of these are the “condition” or “cause” groups that have “everything you want to know” about a specific condition. Please take the time to contact them. You can learn a lot from people who have lived with your condition, and the best part is that the information is usually free. They ask for donations, but giving is not required.
Finally, if you find one of my links to any of these sites is not working, please email me to let me know.
Resources
Shortly after the events creating the need for caregiving, the caregiver faces the overwhelming task of making decisions. It seems as if an army of people approaches from the ends of the Earth, asking questions and demanding answers about medical care, finances, equipment purchases, and preferences for this or that. Often, the caregiver lacks the knowledge to understand the request, nor do they know how to quickly identify resources to research information to make an informed decision. In addition, unless they know someone in the medical community they trust, feelings of isolation and fear of making the wrong decision may haunt them.
The goal of “Resources” is to help with that dilemma. By pulling together various resources in one location, caregivers can establish a foundation before beginning an independent search for knowledge. Then, with a “jumping off point,” they can dive further into cyberspace, seeking what they need with greater confidence because they understand the terminology and essential information on the topic.
Community Resources
Links to organizations that provide information or services for free to clients. Most are medical condition or injury-based.