A little advice
When you are caring for a chronically ill loved one, your list of needs becomes very long very quickly. Many people may ask, "What can I do to help?" This is a time in your life to accept those offers for help. But it is not always easy to do. Sometimes you are so overwhelmed you don't know what to ask for. Here are some tips on directing people to useful tasks.
- Consider enlisting a friend or family member to coordinate efforts for you. It often takes several phone calls to coordinate meal schedules, lawn care schedules, etc. Having someone else do this for you frees you up to focus on the patient, spending precious moments with them and meeting their needs.
- Sometimes it becomes essential to have the help of a home
health agency. Though they are a god-send, it is difficult to have so
many nurses in and out of your house so often. Be sure to choose your
agency carefully. Points to consider:
- professional training of the nursing staff
- your gut-feeling comfort level with the overall staff and individual nurses (remember, these people spend many hours in your home--you need to be comfortable having them around and know that they will do a good job with your loved one's medical needs)
- flexibility of scheduling (nurses may need to call in sick or you may have a last-minute change in scheduling--what is your agency's back-up plan and how flexible is the agency with their nurses' hours?)
- Accept monetary donations, and consider opening a separate
bank account to deposit donations to your family. These funds may be
used for the following needs:
- medical bills
- gas/transportation to doctor's appointments
- patient's medications
- hotel costs (if your medical center is far from your home, or if you have far-off family and friends who need to stay locally to help out)
- Ask a community or church group to provide meals for the family. These can be home-cooked, restaurant take-out, quick-fix prepared meals, or nonperishable goods. If the patient has specific nutritional needs, you may need to prepare their meals separately.
- Make it one person's responsibility to keep stock of basic items you may need, such as hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray and wipes, hand soap, and paper goods (Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper, dinner napkins).
