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Caregiver's Handbook 13

29. General Tips for Helping the Older Person to Eat Well

__ Plan meals and snacks to include the person's favorite foods.

__ Use a variety of foods from each of the four food groups,

__ Prepare foods that provide a variety of texture, color, and temperature,

__ Provide a pleasant setting, i.e., flowers, place mats, matching dishes, good lighting.

In addition to books, recipes and literature, the organizations listed below are valuable in providing tips, ideas, counseling, and reminders that you are not alone. They can help make the gradual transition to improved eating habits: (Addresses listed were local San Diego. For same or counterparts in your locality check your telephone directories or contact United Way: American Heart Association; American Diabetes Association; American Cancer Society; Arthritis Foundation; Dietetic Association; United Ostomy Associates.

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I. Medical Aspects of Caregiving

30. As a caregiver, you are in a position to help your care-receiver along the road to good health care by encouraging routine physical examinations. You are valuable in helping the care-receiver talk to their doctors and other medical personnel. You can follow through with their medical treatment at home.

However, it is important to remember that the primary responsibility for medical treatment rests between the doctor and the patient. If there is any doubt about what you should or should not do, the doctor should be consulted. You can help your care-receiver to understand his/her medical treatment and encourage the care-receiver to be involved in making decisions. In medical treatment, it is often tempting to decide what is best for the patient, but it is best to recognize the care-receiver's need to choose. We all need control of our lives, and this is especially true for a person who needs the help of others. If there are serious concerns about decisions being made, caregivers should discuss the matter openly with the doctor.

31. Keeping Records and Managing Medications.

Caregivers can help older people maintain medical records for use by the doctor. Arrangements can be made through the doctor's office to send for previous records that could be helpful in treatment. This may require getting Releases of Medical Information signed by the care-receiver. You also should keep a list of all medications (both prescribed and over-the-counter) being used. The same medications that are helpful in easing pain, stopping infection, controlling heart rate and keeping people healthy can also cause serious problems.

Because many older adults take several medications at one time, it is possible that these drugs can interact with one another and be a danger. If more than one doctor is prescribing medications, it is important to keep each doctor aware of the drugs that are being taken. You can keep them informed by taking all your drugs in a paper sack or a list of all your drugs to each doctor. Having one pharmacist that fills all of your prescriptions is a way to prevent taking drugs that interact and cause problems. Over-the-counter or non-prescription drugs also can cause problems. Talk with your pharmacist before using them.

If you find the medicine schedule confusing or difficult to follow, ask your pharmacist about preparing all medicines in blister packs.

Below is a sample of "current medication list" which includes the essentials: name of medication, sample of the medication taped beside its name, the reason for the medication, the dosage and the time the medication is taken:

Table 7

Current Medications List

(This table shows the above essentials in a line across the page and each line separated from the others by a solid line. Mike)

Medication Name///Tape Pill Here/// Reason...///Dosage///Take at. ..

If your care-receiver is taking several medications at different times throughout the day, it may be helpful to develop a second list to assist you with daily medication set-ups; this list may be color coded, or may have the names of the medications grouped in the times to be taken each day. For medications taken several times a day, their names will appear several times on your list as in the example below:

To Caregiver's Handbook Page 14

To Caregiver's Handbook Table of Contents

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Questions or comments? John Cottingham is the author of this site.

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