Free family caregiving resource

Your first week as a caregiver: a practical checklist.

You do not have to organize the rest of your parent's life today. Start with the next necessary task, the person responsible, and the question that still needs an answer.

This checklist adapts the organizing approach in Apparently, I'm the Caregiver. Use it for planning once immediate needs are being addressed. It is not a clinical assessment or an emergency plan.

Checkmarks stay on this page while it is open. They are not sent to us or saved. Keep personal information in your own private notes.

1. Ask your parent what matters to them.

   Ask what they want help with, who they want involved, and what information they are comfortable sharing. A practical concern does not automatically give a relative authority over another adult's decisions.

2. Write down the next unresolved task.

   Replace “sort out care” with a specific question: who is confirming the first visit, arranging the ride, or calling about an appointment? Record what is confirmed separately from what you are still checking.

3. Choose one place for essential contacts.

   A simple notebook can hold the care team's contact details, appointment information, and questions for the next call. Ask the relevant professionals which current records and instructions should be available to the people providing care.

4. Turn one offer of help into an agreement.

   Name a task, a finish time, and how the helper will confirm it is done. “Can you arrange Tuesday's ride and let us know by Monday afternoon?” is easier to act on than “Please help more.”

5. Prepare the next three questions.

   Write down what you need the clinician, agency, or other responsible professional to explain. Ask what an instruction will mean at home and who can answer follow-up questions. Obtain training for any care task that requires it.

6. Identify the gaps and the backup.

   A referral is not the same as a confirmed visit. Check who has actually agreed to do each necessary task and whom to contact if the arrangement falls through. Tell the responsible care team plainly when the help available cannot meet the proposed plan.

7. Put your limits and a review date in the plan.

   Say what you can do this week, what you cannot do, and when you will reassess. Discuss a safe handoff for time away. A time-limited commitment is easier to review than an exhausted promise to do everything indefinitely.

A four-line note for the next call

Keep a private note using these prompts:

1. The task or question we need to resolve is…
2. The help already confirmed is…
3. The person taking the next step is…
4. We will hear back by… and the backup contact is…

You are aiming for a workable next step. A sophisticated filing system can wait.

General educational planning information. Follow the individual's professional care instructions; seek appropriate professional help for medical, legal, or financial decisions.

Graham Ellery · Apparently, I'm the Caregiver
graham-ellery-caregiver.danrs100.chatgpt.site