Being a caregiver for someone severely ill can be a challenging and takes a lot of time. The new caregiver's task of absorbing the new responsibility into an already busy life is a challenge. This article will provide some organization strategies that will reduce time and effort to perform the necessary tasks and serves to reduce your anxiety at the same time.

Communication

As a caregiver, I discovered that communication with friends and family members for updates was an overwhelming task. Companion Sharing the same information several times can be time-consuming. To share information with a larger but curious group of people, consider the idea of establishing a blog or email to update information once instead of multiple times. Responding to blog comments or e-mail responses can occur at a time that is convenient to the caregiver, rather than every time a phone rings. Gaining control over the needed communication can reduce anxiety and stress that comes with many interruptions in your day. I found that using blogs for communication can also help reduce issues with misinterpretation information as it is passed between people. The blog or e-mail serves as an "single source" of truth.

Medical History

A seriously ill patient often requires numerous visits to specialists, doctors and hospitals. A common and frequent question from health professionals was about the medication the patient is taking. In addition, there were frequent inquiries about other health care providers and insurance companies and pharmacy services, previous surgeries and allergies. Recording this information into a single location, either in writing or electronically ensures that you have all the information easily accessible when you need it. If maintained, it helps to prevent medical mistakes. Recalling information at the hospital or in an emergency is difficult and often results in the omission of critical information or sharing the wrong details. Another benefit is a lower stress level for caregivers.

Medication List

A person who is severely ill frequently requires a variety of medication. If you track all medications in one place along with a dosing schedule you help to avoid mistakes in medication. Additionally, it allows you to assign the responsibility of providing medications with others when needed which allows you to delegate that burden and take on other tasks. If maintained the medication list will allow an easy recall of the information when requested by health care providers and emergency services.

Medicine Information

If you are taking multiple medicines, the risk of side effects increases dramatically. Pharmacies provide medicine information sheets when dispensing medications. Information on medicines is also accessible through the Internet. The fact that you can keep all the information about medicines in one place allows you to locate quickly the information you need, in the event that you suspect someone you take care of has issues with their medications. With a serious illness you find that a variety of doctors prescribe medications. This list can help keep all doctors informed to ensure that you are not afflicted by issues at the onset. If an adverse reaction does happen, doctors often have alternatives to medication.

Calendar

The patient who is severely ill usually needs multiple health visits. I suggest keeping a schedule to track each appointment. It doesn't matter whether you use a paper or electronic version. Having the calendar available minimizes the problems with scheduling too many appointments in one day or creating overlapping appointments.

The tips I offer are groundbreaking, but every one of these tiny organizing tips will add to a larger sum in time. Our minds are incredible but often overwhelmed when trying to address too many topics simultaneously or attempt to remember too many things. Untangling the mind from details lets you concentrate on the important topics or other tasks. The freedom from details can help ease the anxiety you experience when taking care for your loved ones.

Suddenly a Caregiver

Sharing a family's experience along with lessons to help you navigate the daunting obligation of being a family caregiver.