HELPLESS TO HELP

Parents can get sick and confused about their many health issues and prescriptions. The situation can feel more complex if your parent is hard of hearing. This circumstance leaves many of us feeling unable to be helpful. How hard it is to sense that there is nothing we can do about an increasingly complicated state of affairs.
There are, however, many things that can be done to make a parent's treatment more manageable:


1. Explain to your parents that you may be in a position to take them to a doctor or a hospital where you may be asked questions about their symptoms. Your mom or dad may protest that "I can handle this myself," but it is important for you to explain that, in an emergency, most of us can't always remember details and remind them that thinking clearly may be more difficult.


2. Review parents' complaints as well as a list of all of their medications. This should include all over the counter medications as well as any side effects that have caused concern. Review refill dates so that you can encourage your parent to give all of this information to a physician.


3. When you so go to a doctor's appointment with a parent, ask for an early morning appointment or request the first appointment after the doctor's lunch hour. The staff is likely to be more friendly during these hours and, with no annoying wait, your parent will be more cooperative and less exhausted.


4. Bring a list of complaints written so that the most important issues get brought up first.


5. Make sure that your parent signs a HIPPA form so that the doctor can review concerns and appointment schedules with you.


6. Encourage your parent to talk. Refrain from doing all of the speaking. This would be insulting to a parent who is being "babied" and who can, instead, be more involved in personal health care.


7. Find a pharmacy that delivers or one that has a mail-in service.


8. Have a power of attorney for your parents.


9. Maintain a health care folder for them.


10. And, never underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a listening ear, a compliment or a small act of caring.

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.'

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