What if you live hours from home and need to know how your parents are faring?
In This Article
- The Morning Phone Call That Doesn’t Get Answered
- The Open Fridge
- The Missing Medication
- Confusion Before Appointments
- A System for Long-Distance Coordination
- Making Long Distances Feel Shorter
The first clue that something is wrong comes on a typical Tuesday morning. Your mom isn’t answering her phone. It’s 9:15 a.m., and the kettle should have been whistling long ago. Being hundreds of miles away, you find yourself spinning through a series of scenarios. Is she in the shower? Did her phone fall behind the couch? Did she trip and fall next to the bed?
Having someone reliable in your parent’s home can provide comfort and reassurance. Someone who can walk in, take a look around, see what’s changed, and let you know.
The Morning Phone Call That Doesn’t Get Answered
A missed phone call could be as simple as a hearing aid battery that’s dead or the cordless phone charger that’s sitting in the laundry hamper. But when the phone calls start going unanswered, you might want to take a closer look.
A home care provider can drop by at an established time, knock on the side door with the squeaky hinge, and make sure that your parent is up and about and okay.
They’ll also get a better sense of the little things. Maybe your parent sounds fine on the phone but is using the counter for balance (look at this web-site) as they cross the kitchen. The caregiver can tell you if your parent hasn’t touched their food, is wearing the same clothes they wore yesterday, or has a fresh bruise on their arm. They can pass along that information so you don’t have to worry about it in the middle of the night.
The Open Fridge
Monthly visits often start with a refrigerator check. Maybe there’s a jar of mustard and half a container of milk and a Tupperware container with no date written on it. Your mom tells you she’s getting groceries tomorrow, but the grocery list pinned to the refrigerator with a banana magnet has been there for a couple of weeks.
You’re First Home Care can check in on some of the basics – fresh food, simple meals – and can note what’s going on in the fridge. They might let you know that there’s still bread in the bag, but it’s starting to harden. There are multiple frozen meals that have gone uneaten in the back of the fridge. There’s a burnt pot soaking in the sink. It’s tea, crackers, and canned soup again instead of real food.
Having this kind of information allows you to take action before your next visit. You can change your grocery order, talk to your mom about easier ways to eat, or ask for more frequent home care support without trying to figure out what’s happening over a pixelated FaceTime call set against a coffee mug.
The Missing Medication
Medications can be overlooked due to various issues. Maybe the refill request is lost under the stack of bills on the kitchen counter, or perhaps the pill bottle is hidden behind the toaster. Maybe the medication is already filled, but your parent won’t drive after dark anymore and keeps promising to pick it up tomorrow morning.
Caregivers can send reminders, check if medications were picked up (as you can see at https://www.cochrane.org/evidence), and let you know when refills might be needed. They can also notice things like the Monday pills still sitting in the pill box on Wednesday afternoon. They aren’t making medical decisions, but they can let you know when something has happened.
Confusion Before Appointments
Appointments can lead to confusion. One appointment can be on a planner, another on a reminder card on the counter. Then there is the morning of the appointment. Is your parent wearing one shoe, trying to find their insurance card in a junk drawer? A caregiver can help get them ready, gather any needed documents, confirm transportation, and make sure the day isn’t rushed. And then there can be an update about whether the appointment went well, whether any follow-up paperwork was given to the doctor’s office, whether an appointment was scheduled for the future, or whether a new set of instructions was tucked in a jacket pocket somewhere.
Caregiver helping an older adult prepare documents for an appointment
A System for Long-Distance Coordination
When working with caregivers for long-distance coordination, it is important to establish a system. Determine who should receive updates, what should trigger a phone call, and where emergency information is stored (perhaps on a colorful note taped inside the cupboard). Also include routine requests, such as to come in the back door, or leave the lights on in the hall after an evening visit.
Making Long Distances Feel Shorter
The distance will always be there after the phone call ends and the duffel bag goes back in the closet. But with a local caregiver, if a phone call doesn’t go through or the fridge is empty, a caregiver is there to see what’s going on. They can stand in the room, see the half-empty mug of coffee on the table, and hear if your parent is having trouble breathing. When managing care from afar, this ongoing communication can make your monthly trips more efficient, and the weeks in between more bearable.
Key Points
- A missed phone call from a parent could indicate various issues ranging from simple problems like a dead hearing aid battery to more serious concerns.
- Caregivers can provide valuable insights into a parent’s well-being, noting changes in their routine or physical condition that might not be evident during phone conversations.
- Regular checks of a parent’s refrigerator can reveal whether they are eating properly and if they may need assistance with grocery shopping.
- Caregivers can assist with medication management by sending reminders and monitoring whether prescriptions are picked up or taken as scheduled.
- A caregiver can help prepare an elderly parent for medical appointments by organizing necessary documents and ensuring they are ready on time.
- Establishing a communication system with caregivers is crucial for long-distance coordination, including updates, triggers for calls, and emergency information.
