This post comes from personal experience. What are the things to consider when living away from loved ones when things “go south”?
Growing up in a small-ish town in the Midwest, kids moving away from “home” and staying away for their adult lives was more uncommon than common. No one ever said I was “common”!
This was a humble reminder during the illnesses, hospitalizations and long-term care as my parents aged. I had had no idea how this would impact me and my family.
My career in aviation allowed me to travel “home” with flexibility. As I told my parents, “I can be “home” from anywhere in the world within 24 hours”. As circumstances would have it, this was the case.
Over the years I’ve gathered a few ideas and tips when we are away and third parties are involved with care. Documentation, Communication and Persistence helps us help them.
- Health Care entities are required to protect patient privacy. If you are calling in to speak about your loved one and their patient they will check if you are legally permitted to receive information. To help them help you, make sure HIPPA documents have been completed designating you an individual with the right to have access to medical/health records.
- In the case of traumatic injury, next of kin may be able to discuss medical decisions on behalf of family.
- If patients are able to communicate their wish for people to be advised, doctors may discuss a patient’s condition.
- A Health Care Power of Attorney (sometimes called a proxy and/or directive) provides us the opportunity to designate specific people to be a representative or agent to communicate on behalf of us, if/when we are unable to do so.
- A simple step to prove you have been given the access to a loved one’s information is to make copies of the signed HIPPA, Health Care Power of Attorney and Advanced Directive documents. ** I scanned these documents as PDF documents to show/send to Health Care entities when asked about my authority to obtain information and/or make decisions.
Hospitals were a tough nut for me to crack. They are accustomed to people living nearby. When patient care teams wish to consult about a patient’s condition and/or care plans, it is possible to arrange for call-in conference calls!
It took some time and my use of technology to educate care teams about this 🙂 Careful coordination between families and care teams can be done!
In-home care, assisted living and/or long-term care facilities have rules too. Help them help you by providing privacy documentation and preferred contact information to them.
Communicate clearly and often with family and all levels of the care team. Establishing a “system” with them on behalf of a loved one may take some time up-front, yet it pays off in the long run.
Allow me to encourage you to approach this before needed! If you’re someone ready to consider what’s at stake for you, your family or your workplace, let’s talk. I have many tools in my toolkit for you 🙂
When you’re ready to take on life’s administrative side of life, contact me via Email. Additional information is available upon request or on the website @ The Living PlannerÂ
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