Healthcare: Organization Matters  

 Healthcare: Organization Matters  

Aging and Life Enhancement
By Kathryn Kilpatrick, M.A.

“A well-prepared and organized conversation sets the stage for successful outcomes.” ~Critical Conversations in Healthcare

“Be prepared” is excellent advice. Just planning your day, a celebration or a trip needs a plan and takes some organizational skills. Whether it is for yourself or perhaps when assisting in the care plan for another person, gathering and then organizing medical information needs to be a primary focus.

Who is the keeper of the information? How are changes and updates handled? Perhaps there is a key person supervising or totally handling medical issues and that person is not available at a key moment. What is the backup plan?

“What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?” ~George Eliot

During my years of home healthcare as a speech-language pathologist, part of my assessment would include exploring  how well my patients or their caregivers were able to explain and follow up on the incredible amount of information and recommendations received from their healthcare team. It can be totally overwhelming and subtle pieces of important information may be passed over which, in some cases, can have serious consequences.

It is not unusual for family members, friends or caregivers to assume that there were not any issues that might interfere with compliance, but stress and anxiety are significant factors in the ability to recall even simple details. Add to that possible non-compliance choices by the patient or perhaps a care partner’s  own choosing.  

It was not unusual to note during my assessment that sometimes confusion, hearing, vision, or language obstacles play a very important role in the bigger picture, unbeknownst to the support system participants. Note that the person in the home or others offering to take on these tasks might have some challenges that were not obvious in the daily routines. New information and underlying stress can contribute to processing the details and sometimes the ability to implement them accurately or in a timely matter.

If there are several people sharing in the care, it is essential to get all of them on the same page with the recommendations and system created to ensure compliance. One of my patients needed a prescription refill and an out-of-town family member handled the refill, unaware that there was a mistake when it was refilled (dosage was too high). What resulted was the older adult became increasingly confused over a few days and eventually had to be sent to the hospital. It was an honest mistake by someone who wanted to help out but was not familiar with the medication and the family member just assumed it was okay. If someone had  double-checked with a health care professional to verify that it was the correct medication/dosage, this likely could have had a different outcome. 

With an awareness of some of the areas where issues might occur, my goal was to alert the team members and the family and offer pertinent strategies that would decrease some of the challenges or missteps, especially if the care partners had some challenges that could impact compliance.

How the information is organized for easy retrieval, so that the most recent, pertinent information is readily found, is an essential component. All parties must understand how updates in recommendations are managed and communicated to others providing assistance.

Many older adults are not comfortable with technology, so deciding how to organize the details will matter. Keeping track of medications, appointments or recommendations from the doctor(s), nurse, therapists, social worker, professional caregivers, and friends who may pinch-hit in an emergency is essential and needs to be readily accessible.

Updating the information is key and perhaps one person needs to be responsible for doing that and how the information is disseminated to others on the team. Putting a date next to a recommendation is highly recommended if there are multiple changes. 

Family members may choose to pass this information along in a designated document sent by emails, depending on their comfort zone. Others may prefer creating a notebook with a weekly summary of updates so that all involved can refer to it as needed. The wife of one of my clients caring for her husband with Parkinson’s Disease found  that system very helpful to refer back to since she started a new notebook for each new year. She also kept track of observations including appetite, energy level, progress with the therapies and notes on his recommended exercise plan. For her, this was very reassuring because she readily admitted that, at times, it was information overload and details sometimes became fuzzy. When their daughter came for a week, she found it very helpful since it gave her even more details than had been shared in their earlier phone conversations.

Every caregiving journey is unique and evolves in many different directions. If you can find a system to support your recall of all the recommendations by the healthcare team along with pertinent observations for future reference, you will alleviate some of the stress of information overload. Self-care matters!  

“Accepting help is its own kind of strength.”  ~Kiera Cass

About the author

The career of Kathryn Kilpatrick, M.A., Geriatric Life Enhancement Consultant, Memory Fitness Specialist and Speech-Language Pathologist (1969-2019) began as a speech-language pathologist, primarily in Ohio at hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and for 35 years in home health care. A national motivational speaker and author of more than 35 products, she is currently focusing on her geriatric life enhancement consulting practice and educational programs to enhance the quality of life of older adults, including memory fitness and brain health. You can contact her at [email protected].

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