Skip to main content

Questions You Should Ask the Doctor As An Elder Care Advocate

Of the many responsibilities a family caregiver or elder care advocate faces, perhaps one of the more overwhelming is managing health concerns. The National Council on Aging reports that about ¾ of all older adults are diagnosed with a minimum of two chronic diseases, and they are seeing on average four medical specialists.

As your senior parent’s advocate, it is very important to learn simple tips to communicate effectively with those on the senior’s medical team, and to come to appointments fully prepared to address any and all concerns. The following four questions are a wonderful place to start:

  1. Are all of these prescriptions essential? With most aging parents taking many medications, you’ll need to maintain a detailed list and examine it periodically with the doctor and also the pharmacist, both of whom will be able to make sure there aren’t any duplications prescribed by different specialists, or any contraindications between meds.
  2. If prescribing something new, what unwanted side effects should we be prepared to see? Evaluating the benefits vs. the potential risks for any new medication is very important, as there can be situations when troublesome side effects outweigh any positive aspects available. And if the doctor shares a blanket statement such as, “Most people don’t encounter any issues with this medication,” be sure to follow through for more information about people who DO encounter problems.
  3. What is the simplest way to reduce pain and discomfort? We’re all conscious of the opioid epidemic, as well as the chance of addiction and other problems that come with taking prescription pain medications. However, unaddressed discomfort and pain may cause both delayed healing and considerable emotional stress, both for the individual experiencing pain and his or her caregivers.
  4. If this was your mom, what would you do? Inviting the doctor to step into your shoes is frequently a very helpful method to gauge how you might choose to proceed. There may, in reality, be less invasive or aggressive methods to managing a challenge that you might wish to explore first.

For more recommendations on making sure a cherished older adult receives the best possible care, connect with the home care professionals at Heaven At Home Senior Care. We’re here to help through:

  • Accompanying older adults to healthcare appointments and procedures and ensuring that concerns are answered
  • Ensuring medicines are taken exactly as prescribed
  • Proactively watching for any changes in condition, such as medication side effects, and reporting them right away
  • Planning and preparing healthy meals and offering encouragement to stay physically active to improve health
  • And so much more

To get started on an improved quality of life for a senior loved one, simply give us a call at 866-381-0500 to ask about an in-home consultation from the experts in home care Dallas and the surrounding areas depend on.

The post Questions You Should Ask the Doctor As An Elder Care Advocate appeared first on Heaven at Home Care.



from Heaven at Home Care https://ift.tt/2QQn9Fr
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dads and Pops: Your Good Health Matters to Us 

Did you know  June is  Men’s Health Month  and Father’s Day anchors Men’s Health Week ?   Celebrate dad on Father’s Day and thank him for all he  has  done, but  also  make sure to seize an opportunity sometime this month to have a conversation with him about his health. This awareness campaign has the critical purpose of informing men   that avoiding preventive healthcare puts them at real and serious risk of  contracting a disease or  acquiring  a chronic condition.   Studies consistently  show the numbers go against men , particularly as they advance into their senior years.   Even with dramatic advances in diagnosis and treatment over the past 100 years, men’s life expectancy still lags significantly behind women. According to  Harvard Health ,  the gap is widening. In 1900, the life expectancy for women was 48.3 years vs. 46.3 for men. In 2017, it was 81.1 years for women vs. 76.1 for men. Harvard...
Post a Comment
Read more

Memorize These Six Signs of a Scam

An 88-year-old woman is one of the latest victims of the sweepstakes scam. She lost $160,000 in order to get the millions the scammer claimed she’d won through the Publishers Clearing House. She’s not alone. This scam has been around for years and has affected tens of thousands. Be aware of the six signs of a scam to avoid losing money. The Caller Insists You Not Tell Anyone In a scam, the caller will insist that you cannot tell anyone. This is more likely to happen with the grandparent scam. The caller will say that the grandchild’s parents cannot know. Secrecy is important to the “grandchild.” If your parents are told not to tell anyone, it’s very likely a scam. Your parents should immediately report the scam to local authorities or the FTC at 1-877-382-4357. The Contact Arrives Out of the Blue A scam is going to start with a random call, email, or unsolicited mailer. Your parents didn’t enter a contest. It could be a scammer posing as a police officer, IRS representative, or ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sleep in the Elderly: What is Normal?

If you are a caregiver for a senior, or even just have elderly people in your life, you may wonder about their sleeping habits. It sometimes seems that the elderly don’t need as much sleep as the average person. You may feel like the elderly in your life are sleeping a lot, or sleeping too much during the day. Unfortunately when it comes to sleep in the elderly, what is normal may not necessarily be what is healthy. Excessive sleep or daytime sleeping in the elderly are all related to sleep disorders and can be helped. How Many Hours of Sleep Does an Elderly Person Need? A pervading myth related to sleep claims that elderly adults need less sleep than the average adult. It’s not quite clear how this myth began. Perhaps because elderly adults tend to nap in the afternoons and sleep less during the night. Perhaps because the elderly tend to wake up earlier in the morning, it appears they do not need to sleep as much. Whatever the reason, it remains a myth. From the mid-’20s onward, do...
1 comment
Read more