While some caregivers come to the role with prior experience, many new caregivers only know what they learned in health class in school, from watching TV programs, or through life experiences. As a result, realizing all that it takes to manage someone else’s care suddenly becomes overwhelming when they first begin to take on the care of someone else. The caregiver feels like they must learn everything doesn’t know how or where to start.
Helping caregivers figure out what they need and where to get it is the focus of “Starting Out.” Some fundamental topics are helpful for all caregivers to know. “First Steps” presents the basics and then provides additional details you’ll need with “Understanding Healthcare,” “Legal Considerations,” and “Money Management.”
Are Medicare and Medicaid the Same? Medicare is a federal program funded by tax dollars that provides health coverage if you are 65 or older, under 65 and disabled, or a dialysis patient. Eligibility is not income-based but instead relates to the number of years you paid Medicare payroll tax into Social Security as […]
Monitoring Your Metabolism Metabolism is how we convert food into energy and use that energy to make the body function properly. That process is essentially a chemical one and occurs through a series of organs doing their part to mechanically break down the food and chemically decompose it into energy. If our organs don’t work
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CBC – Complete Blood Count A Complete Blood Count (CBC) is one of the most common tests ordered. The test’s purpose is to check the count of all the cells in your blood and identify how many are present. A CBC includes a count of the red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, hemoglobin,
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Understanding Legal Terms Related to Medical Decisions What is a power of attorney (POA)? A “Power of Attorney” (POA) means that you have designated someone to act as your agent if you are incapable of making decisions for yourself. Usually, a written, legal document spells out the agent’s decision-making authority. Most general POAs give agents
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Care Agreements and Medicaid Eligibility Previously, I shared how to determine what duties you might continue to perform and which ones you should give to a paid caregiver. Once you decide, it’s important to verbally discuss the expectations with the caregiver and follow that conversation up with a summary of what you said. Make the
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Caregiving is expensive. One way to avoid financial hardship is to establish a budget based on household and medical necessities as you begin planning care. When the need for caregiving becomes a reality, take time to look over all your financial needs and the possible resources available to help with medical expenses because caregiving is
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Helping someone who has trouble moving or helping themselves requires a lot of strength, flexibility, and energy. Many times, unexpected movements cause muscle strain or back injuries. Special transfer or moving equipment (often called durable medical equipment or DME) helps reduce the risk of these injuries, but the cost is high. Before buying
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Developing a Plan of Care After completing a health assessment, you have a baseline for your family member and a starting place for developing a plan of care. A comparison with the baseline can show an improvement or decline in their state of health. Initially, compare their baseline to the normal for their age,
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What happens if the primary caregiver is unavailable to provide care? Many caregivers have medical problems they neglect or develop over years of providing care to family members. Eventually, however, everyone becomes sick, and try as they might, they cannot come to work. The same is true of caregivers,
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Use Caution When Assessing Needs Caregivers enter their role with guarded expectations and mixed knowledge and skills. Assessing the needs of themselves or their family members is very foreign to them. Therefore, use caution in searching for information to avoid unreliable sources. When seeking information or training, seek reliable sources. Caregivers with no
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