When someone requires immediate care such as coming home from a surgery or hospital stay it often can be overwhelming for the caregiver.
For the different types of caregiving check out our blog called: Phases of Caregiving.
People are quick to offer support, but sometimes you may not even know what you need help with.
Each caregiving situation is unique. Nevertheless, there are some typical tasks that could be beneficial to consider before you become an immediate caregiver.
When you do become a caregiver it can be really hard to ask for help. But asking for help can make a big difference in your life and in your loved one’s life.
Be ready when people say, “Let me know if you need anything”.
Having a list handy can help ease some of your stress.
In the list below there are some common tasks that several immediate family caregivers face.
Because in the moment it can be hard to think who can help so you end up doing it. By having a list ready to go you can proactively reach out to others for help.
When you think about adding people to the list, try to think of their strengths.
For example, if someone is reserved having them call or text family providing updates may not be the right fit. However, they might excel at getting the house ready for your loved one coming home from the hospital.
I will admit in my family we haven’t done a good job with pairing tasks to people’s strengths in the past. It was much more the random and chaotic pairing.
In listening to Jennifer Fink’s podcast called Fading Memories, she mentioned paring the task to the right person. And seeing I loved being organized, I created a common list and people placements pdf’s for you and for me when I require it again in the future.
Use the ones that fit your situation, skip any that don’t apply and add your own.
- Notifying or updating Family and Friends on Surgery/ Hospital Stay / Situation
Often there are several family members or friends who want to know updates of a surgery or hospital stay. Sending each one text is time consuming and draining. If you can appoint someone to be the contact person for the day of surgery or hospital stay do so.
If there are lot of people who want to be updated considering setting up a CaringBridge page. CaringBridge is a non-profit that offers free webpages to help family’s make one updated post and then everyone who is connected to that page can see the update.
- Creating a Hospital Bag for the Family Caregivers
If you know ahead of time someone is scheduled for surgery or will have a lengthy hospital stay consider creating a Hospital Comfort Bag for the family. We used to sell Hospital Comfort Bags on our site, but no longer do. You can find our DIY blog on what to include in a family hospital bag.
- Getting the house ready for the person to come home
Depending on why they had surgery or were hospitalized there might need to do a quick reorganization of their home to make it easier for them to come home.
Some things to consider:
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- Trip hazards such as loose paper on the floor, small rugs, foot stools etc
- Clearing off chairs/sofas so they can easy sit when they get in the door
- Opening Medicine bottles if they aren’t going to be able to open them
- Putting clean sheets and making the bed ready for when they come home
Almost everyone likes to crawl into be bed with clean sheets, which can be great way to come to. But more importantly clean sheets help prevent infections.
- Meals for the caregivers
Figure out if you want someone to make a meal for you the caregiver or are you planning to just pick up food or get delivery.
Sometimes loved ones can’t be left alone for a certain amount of time after being released from the hospital or medical center.
If people offer to cook it’s okay to request a different day for them to drop it off.
- Meals or snacks for the loved one
Depending on what happened they may not be hungry for a meal. Having individual fruit cups, applesauce, pudding or yogurt can be a great ways to give them something small to eat.
When asking for or getting meals/snacks keep in mind any dietary restrictions.
- Feeding Pets or Taking the Dog for a walk
Even such a simple things as asking for help to feed the pets or let the dog out can help you from feeling so overwhelmed.
- Picking up any medications or medical items
A lot of times there are new medications to get after leaving a hospital or medical center. Having someone else who isn’t transporting the loved one home stop and get the prescriptions is a great time saver.
Sometimes just the car ride home can exhaust the person so not having to stop for medication benefits them too.
- Taking your loved one to follow up appointments
Having a plan of who is going to take them to their follow up appointments, physical therapy or medical rehab can lessen the stress for you.
There are probably more items that could be included, but this list is meant to get you started. The PDF has lots of blanks rows for you to add your specific required tasks.
