Facilitating Communication Between Physicians, Seniors, & Families

We do our best to highlight how much seniors benefit from social and community engagement, including a community healthcare model. Without a collaborative approach to aging, it’s easy to miss the typical red flags or signs that more support is needed or something is drastically wrong.

4 Tips To Approach Facilitating Communication For Senior Health & Wellbeing

All adults deserve the right to privacy and dignity, especially when we’re talking about medical, clinical, or mental health arenas - all of which are protected by HIPAA. However, there are times when the lines need to blur, especially if a lack of collaborative care negatively impacts an aging loved one’s health and well-being.

Here are three tips for fostering a respectful but collaborative approach to your senior loved one's long-term health plan and goals.

Have a conversation (or a series of conversations)

Sometimes, our interest or inquiry into how a senior is doing or expressing the desire to have more open communication about their medical/health status can feel threatening. So, the first place to start is with a conversation. For some adults and families, this may be more successful using a series of smaller conversations starting with “the easy stuff” and progressing to include more challenging topics.

Before you initiate any conversation, visit our post on how well-meaning emotions can block loved ones from quality care. The post covers some of the most likely “sticking points” so running through them can help you be more prepared and present to everyone’s concerns.

Some of the most important topics to cover during these conversations include things like:

• Does memory or cognitive decline seem to be an issue?
• What age-related issues are already diagnosed or evident, and what are the helpful support systems for them?
• Are there current advanced care directives in place, including the healthcare proxy and power of attorney?
• Is there an updated will/estate plan filed (and where are copies when needed?)
• How long will mom/dad be staying in their home?
• Is the home proactively set up for safe aging-in-place? Is it accessible, free from common slip/trip/fall hazards, equipped with adequate safety lighting inside and out, 
• What are the signposts indicating more care might be needed?
• Who will be stepping in to provide additional support as needed?
• What is the plan when your loved one needs more help with meal prep, transportation, or housekeeping? 
• Etc.

Things like this are essential to senior health because, in addition to ensuring there are clear point-people to make decision-makers if something happens, there are also lots of safeguards in place to keep loved ones as independently safe and active as possible.

Ask for access to your loved one’s healthcare portals

The digital world has made it easier than ever for organized families and caregivers to be in touch and keep their fingers on the pulse of an aging loved one’s well-being.

Ask your loved one for log-in access to their healthcare portals. These days, that could include:

• Primary care physician.
• Specialists.
• Pharmacy.
• Dentist.
• Optometrist/ophthalmologist.
• Therapist.
• Geriatric or neurology specialists.

Again, the idea of one (or maybe two point people at the most) makes the most sense here to keep healthcare providers from being overwhelmed. Group-relevant information can be disseminated from there.

Create a shared family care plan when facilitating communication

All too often, one or two members of the family wind up with more than the lion’s share of caring for an aging parent or grandparent. This is usually because care needs increase over time. So, at first, making some appointment arrangements, stopping by for occasional visits, or helping out with a few “honey do” chores was manageable.

However, over time, seniors who live at home need increasing help with everyday tasks. Knowing this ahead of time can help your family create a more equitable and shared family care plan. Without everyone pitching in (physically or financially), primary caregivers burn out.

• Set up a calendar for different family members to have FaceTime, Google Meet, WhatsApp, etc., and video chats. These digital connections support social and family engagement and give everyone real-time updates on how things are going.
• Sign up for meal delivery services or create a MealTrain account to keep healthy, delicious, and easy-to-heat meals and snacks in the fridge.
• Take turns driving mom/dad to appointments (or hire a transportation service like Uber Health or a paid caregiver to do it).
• Interview prospective senior home care agencies before you need them to learn more about what they offer and their policies. After a few in-home assessments, you’ll have a good idea of which one is the right fit.
• See if family members who aren’t geographically close by can help pay for senior care services or meal provisions since they can’t physically help out.

Work with licensed senior care providers 

Licensed home care agencies work closely with families and healthcare providers to improve our clients' health, well-being, and quality of life. You can scale the services to match the need. So, if your loved one lives alone and you live elsewhere - or you’re swamped juggling work and a young family - we can help fill in the gaps. This is especially important once independent seniors have a dementia diagnosis if they plan to stay at home. 

Our work can involve as little as providing once-a-week visits for companionship, light housekeeping, meal support, or transportation to/from appointments or social events. Over time, we can scale up to meet the needs, always with an unwavering focus on facilitating communication between you, your loved one, and their healthcare providers.

Schedule an Assessment With HomeAide Home Care

Do you feel like there needs to be an uptick in collaboration to keep your loved one safe, healthy, active, and independent? Schedule an assessment with HomeAide Home Care. 

Together, our team has more than half a century of experience supporting the needs of our clients and helping families keep their fingers on the pulse of their senior loved one’s daily rhythm and well-being.