First Steps
As a new caregiver, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you need to take in at one time. Indeed, you have a lot to learn, and you likely received it in random order making it difficult to figure out what goes with what. First Steps provides an organized approach to getting started as a caregiver. How to assess your situation to create a plan begins the process. Once you have a plan drafted, you move on to implementing it.
Assessing Needs
When first starting, it’s difficult to know what you need to do first or if something is a priority or necessity. New caregivers may need help in knowing how to assess their various needs. For example, how do they determine what supplies and equipment they need instead of renting or repurposing? How can they determine what physical or emotional needs their family member might have? Which symptoms are serious, and which ones are minor? Learn how to do a needs assessment to enable you to make better choices.
Developing Plan
After identifying your family member’s needs, it’s time to adapt your living space and lifestyle as needed to accommodate any necessary changes to meet your family member’s physical or mental needs. In some cases, living quarters require no significant changes. In other circumstances, a home needs major renovations to accommodate a wheelchair or walker for someone who can no longer walk. When developing a plan, the caregiver looks at the needs of all affected parties, determines priorities, and decides what to do when.
Implementing Plan
You’ve done your assessment and developed a plan; now it’s time to implement it. What are some of the plans caregivers should have in place for themselves and their family members? For example, what type of emergency preparedness plans should you have? Are there documents you might want to keep up to date in case of an accident or death in the family? In implementing plans, what are things to consider and obstacles to overcome? See examples of how to implement plans and examples of how others have established plans for similar situations.