Care Management Techniques You Can Use
Did you ever wish you could just pick up the phone and call someone
who would take stock of your situation, help you access the right
services, counsel you and your family to help resolve some of your
differences, then monitor your progress with an eye toward channeling
your energy and abilities as effectively as possible? If your answer is
“yes,” you’re not alone. Having the help of a care coordinator (often
called a care manager) could make all of our lives easier and less
lonesome, and help us be more capable family caregivers. While most of
us may not have access to a care coordinator, we can all learn how to
think and act like one, thereby reaping numerous benefits for our loved
ones and ourselves.
What Is Care Coordination?
Although every case is different, the care coordination approach usually involves:
- Gathering information from healthcare providers;
- An assessment of your care recipient and the home environment;
- Research into available public and/or private services and resources to meet your loved one’s needs; and
- Ongoing communication between all parties to keep information up-to-date and services appropriate and effective.
Unfortunately,
an assessment of your abilities and needs is not necessarily a standard
part of the process, but it should be. A complete view of the situation
cannot be gained without one. An objective analysis of your health,
emotional state, other commitments, etc., are key elements in
determining how much you can and cannot do yourself, and what type of
outside support is needed to ensure your loved one’s health and safety.
Become Your Own Care Coordinator
By learning and applying at least some of the care coordination
techniques and ideas that follow, you’ll be in a much better position
to develop an organized course of action that will, hopefully, make you
feel more confident and in control — a goal well worth working toward.
Educate yourself on
the nature of the disease or disability with which you’re dealing.
Reliable information is available from the health agency that deals
with your loved one’s condition and the National Institutes of Health.
When using the Internet, stick with well-known medical sites.
Understanding what is happening to your care recipient will provide you
with the core knowledge you need to go forward. It will also make you a
better advocate when talking with healthcare professionals.
Write down your observations of the present situation including:
- Your loved one’s ability to function independently, both physically and mentally.
- The availability of family and/or friends to form a support network to share the care.
- The physical environment: Is it accessible or can it be adapted at reasonable cost?
- Your other responsibilities — at work, at home, and in the community.
- Your own health and physical abilities.
- Your financial resources, available insurance, and existence of healthcare or end-of-life documents.
This
assessment will help you come to a realistic view of the situation. It
will let you know the questions to which you need answers. It can be a
handy baseline for charting your caregiving journey and reminding you
just how much you’ve learned along the way.
Hold a family conference.
At least everyone in the immediate family should be told what’s going
on. A meeting can set the stage for divvying up responsibilities so
that there are fewer misunderstandings down the road when lots of help
may be needed. A member of the clergy, a professional care coordinator,
or even a trusted friend can serve as an impartial moderator. A family
meeting is a good way to let everyone know they can play a role, even
if they are a thousand miles away. It can help you, the primary family
caregiver, from bearing the brunt of all the work all of the time.
Keep good records of
emergency numbers, doctors, daily medications, special diets, back-up
people, and other pertinent information relating to your loved one’s
care. Update as necessary. This record will be invaluable if something
happens to you, or if you need to make a trip to the ER. If you can
maintain a computer-based record, that will make updating all that much
easier and it might even allow you to provide the medical team with
direct access to the information.
Join a support group,
or find another caregiver with whom to converse. In addition to
emotional support, you’ll likely pick up practical tips as well.
Professionals network with each other all the time to get emotional
support and find answers to problems or situations they face. Why
shouldn’t family caregivers?
Start advance planning for difficult decisions
that may lie ahead. It’s never too early to discuss wills, advance
directives, and powers of attorney, but there comes a time when it is
too late. It is also vital that you and your loved one think through
what to do if you should be incapacitated, or, worse, die first. It can
happen.
Develop a care team to help out
during emergencies, or over time if your situation is very difficult.
In an ideal world there will be lots of people who want to help. More
likely you’ll be able to find one or two people to call on in an
emergency or to help with small chores. The critical thing is to be
willing to tell others what you need and to accept their help.
Establish a family regimen.
When things are difficult to begin with, keeping a straightforward
daily routine can be a stabilizer, especially for people who find
change upsetting and confusing.
Approach some of your hardest caregiving duties like a professional.
It’s extraordinarily difficult to separate your family role from your
caregiving role, to lock your emotions up in a box while you focus on
practical chores and decisions. But it is not impossible to gain some
distance some of the time. It requires an almost single-minded approach
to getting the job at hand done as efficiently and effectively as
possible. It takes practice, but is definitely worth the effort.
©National Family Caregivers Association | www.nfcacares.org | Phone: 800/896-3650