I'm taking care of my mother, but I'm having trouble coordinating the different appointments and communicating all the updates with my siblings.
Anybody out there with a similar situation? I'm wondering what your strategy is to deal with this.
Thank you.
It's so time consuming to update multiple family members with separate emails and phone calls. Especially if decisions need to be made that way. Conference calls are hard to schedule. If ALL family members were receptive, I think a Google "Site" would be a great way to communicate and let everyone share the "to do's". Essentially, it's a free private website where you can post updates, maintain a shared calendar that can push updates to any member's own calendar, post important documents, etc.
That said, it wouldn't work for my family :-( If I might vent a little... both of my parents see several doctors and have used in home care. One of my siblings is very detail oriented and email works well for us. The other lives closest to my parents and ends up managing most of the emergencies but is not detail oriented at all and doesn't like email. He loses track of details from phone conversations and doesn't follow through. When we follow up, he gets defensive saying if he thinks it's important, he'll get to it when he can. Managing the logistics of my parents care and keeping us in the loop is negatively impacting his home life and health so I have tried to handle all the coordination of doctors and home care between emergencies. When the sibling near my parents doesn't agree with something we suggest he just takes over and disregards other input. He wants the help but only if its done his way. My parents see the problems but won't ask one of us to take the lead. Can anyone relate?
http://www.nahac.memberlodge.com/directory.
I recently wrote an article that discusses the role of private patient advocates in the health care system. You may want to read about it as well.
Best wishes,
Vik Rajan, M.D.