Planning for Senior Care: How to Get Organized

Prepare for any emergencies and unexpected events by keeping your senior loved one's documents and information organized for a positive senior care experience

Taking care of your loved one is not an easy task, and some unplanned things can always happen along the way. That is why it is extremely important to be organized at all times. Maybe you are the only caregiver, or other family members or professional care agencies such as Visiting Angels of Denver, CO, help you take care of your parent. Whatever the case is, it is important to keep organized so that you can save time, energy, and undue stress when providing senior care for your loved one.

When you share caregiving responsibilities with other family members or professional home care providers it is important to communicate openly with them and keep everything organized. Having lists, schedules, plans in case of an emergency and files will help you with that.

If you want to be organized here are several tips which will help you with this task.

Make Lists

Gather all the important information and put it in one place. Things like household, financial, home maintenance, social and religious information as well as all the names, addresses, and phone numbers are all in one spot so that everyone can access them easily.

Make Copies of all Medical Documents

If more than one person is taking care of your loved one, you should make copies of all medical papers and bills so that things like duplicating tests and medicine refills can be avoided. Keep in mind that you should have all the information about caregivers who are taking care of your aging parent.

Develop a Master Schedule

Sometimes it gets hard to keep track of all the things that should be done. Therefore, it would be wise to create a master schedule so you can always see when your parent's medications need to be reordered or when they have an appointment at the doctor’s office.

Keep a File System

In order to save time and keep your mind at ease, make a file for your parent's medical bills, legal papers, resources and financial papers.

Keep a Log of Who You Talk to

Whenever you talk to someone regarding your loved one's senior care, write it down. You should create a log where you will keep track of whom you’ve talked to, about what and when. This will come in handy in case something is missed or care is delayed. You should also create an emergency plan in case something unpredicted happens.

If you are organized you will be prepared to have other members of your family or professional caregivers step in and help you with senior care services.

Visiting Angels of Denver is a leading provider of non-medical in home care services for seniors. To learn more about the in-home assisted living services provided by our staff of compassionate caregivers, please call our Wheat Ridge office at (303) 232-9999 or contact us for more information.

Visiting Angels proudly serves Arvada, Aurora, Denver, Glendale, Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, and the surrounding areas of Colorado.