If you are a caregiver for a loved one or family member, there are many sources of information that you can draw from to do your day-to-day caregiving tasks. Many of these contacts and resources are in your memory bank and others are in your phone or on pieces of paper that you keep with you. What if something happens and you are not available or you get sick? Who will know how to support the individual with needs on a continuing basis? We call this continuity of care in the healthcare environment.
A list of some of the important items are included below. It is best to have a copy of each of the documents rather than the original. Each situation is different so you may want to customize your list to your specific needs.
1. Emergency contacts – Doctors, family members, and preferred hospital
2. Attorneys and financial planners
3. Minister, Rabbi, Priests or spiritual support source
4. Daily routines – time of arising and bed time, bathing, eating, personal care needs and likes, naps
5. Location of personal care items
6. Ability to ambulate and use of assistive devices
7. Agencies or companies where personal care items are purchased
8. Home care agency contact for non-medical, nursing care or therapy
9. Medications list with names, doses, timing and prescriber including over the counter
10. List of diagnosis
11. Location of medications
12. Pharmacy contact information
13. Powers of attorney for healthcare and property
14. Trust document/s
15. Do not resuscitate (DNR) or Physical Ordered Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) – have this on brightly colored paper placed on the refrigerator – do not assume hospital maintains a copy
16. Location of car keys
17. Security code if there is an alarm system in place
18. Medicare A, B and D card
19. Supplemental insurance card
Keep all of these documents in a binder that can be accessed immediately in case of emergency. Even in routine cases, this is information that difficult to retain on a moment’s notice.
Taking the time to keep all these important documents in one place could save headaches in the future. Please contact me if you need help setting your binder up or if you are unsure of what other information you need to include.