Assessing the needs of your loved one
When you are chosen/decide to become your loved one’s caregiver, you will need to learn about the immediate status of your loved one. Before you can help them you have to know what they are capable of and what they will need help with.
Healthcare professionals typically do a majority of early assessments of patients. But you may be asked to observe your loved one’s behavior at home to see if something was missed, or something is no longer necessary.
Why is this initial assessment important?
You need to know if your loved one's living space is safe for them. If they have tools that will help with mobility shortcomings and safety issues. You need to know if, and how well your loved one functions on a daily basis. What do they need help with now?
You also need to know their current mindset. Are they handling changes well, or do they get frustrated with knowing there are things they used to do, but now really have to struggle with?
You need to know these things because you are the one who will work with health and welfare providers to come up with plans that will hopefully address any issues that come up.
Assessment of care needs can take many forms, and usually caregivers can get much of the needed information from health care professionals, family members who have been close to your loved one, and even your own self-assessment after seeing your loved one and hearing the story of what has been going on with them. This step is probably more important than you think. It is imperative to know where you are beginning. You need that baseline before you can do anything.
Care Plans
It could help you immensely to put together a realistic care plan after you have talked with everyone about the abilities and disabilities of your loved one.
The medical professionals will already have their plans begun. But you have to look at multiple factors and situations. Your care plan needs to be designed to be a kind of on the job guide of what needs to be done if a particular situation comes up. It will go well beyond what your loved one’s healthcare team has in store.
Before your loved one can remain at home, a social service team will come into the home and evaluate it in light of your loved one’s new situation. They will assess the building for safety issues. They may give you a list of things you have to change in the house in order for a loved one to come home. They may even offer some suggestions for equipment that can make it easier for a patient to do some life tasks on their own.
Care plans should be designed to help you in a variety of possible emergency situations. Your loved one may need treatment for a disease that can theoretically be done at home, like insulin shots or other shots that may cover a more temporary issue that has come up. You may notice some side effects from new medications interacting with old ones.
Or you may have a house emergency in the guise of a Tornado, fire, or flood. You need to know exactly how that situation is going to be handled.
You want to put in writing what your plan of action will be. Know what activities and exercises you might have to do, and what medications may be scheduled and when they are scheduled.
Keeping it all in your head sets you up to fail. If you need help, or something happens to you, other family members are going to need help when stepping in to take over for you. So write it all down. It may even become your working checklist.
To recap:
Your care plan will probably cover: Heath Professional Contacts, The Healthcare Team’s Medical Plans, Family Contacts, Emergency Plans, and Daily Activities. It is not static. It may change a lot over time.
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