HealthBridge's In-Home Care Blog

Does this sound familiar?

You've identified your parents' senior care needs.  You've found a superstar caregiver that understands the situation.  You've even worked out a care schedule that makes sense for you and your folks.  In short, you have your family's senior care needs so organized it'd make the Container Store proud. 

You're the quarterback of your care team and you're smart enough to call the right plays.  So, your caregiver drives your parents to a new doctor's appointment and you meet them there.  The doc asks for your dad's Medical Power of Attorney to keep in his file, just in case. 

And you can't find it. 

In fact, you don't think it exists.  You check the file you've brought with you and the cabinet at home.  Nope, not there either. 

Is it possible that you could have done the hard caregiving tasks - identifying needs, finding the right caregiver, making a schedule - without getting the easy stuff done?

Yes, it could. 

Where are Senior Care Documents on your to-do list? 

If you're like most senior care givers, it's wedged right between organize the hall closet and alphabetize the refrigerator magnets.

We all put off this housekeeping task because it seems overwhelming.  Too many documents and not enough time. 

It used to be that a handshake agreement would do, but not anymore.  There is a document for every situation.  The key is understanding the purpose of each document, selecting the ones you need, and filing them properly. 

So, let's start with the top five documents you and your folks should have in place. 

1. Medical Power of Attorney.  This names the person you want to have the power to make any and all health care decisions on your behalf.  Don't worry, you're not turning over authority to this person right away.  In the event that a doctor certifies that you can't make these decisions for yourself, your Medical Power of Attorney will take over.
2. Durable Power of Attorney.  This one names the person you want to manage your financial affairs and make financial decisions on your behalf.  Unlike the Medical Power of Attorney, the Durable Power of Attorney is effective immediately.  You can, however, specify that you don't want this to become effective until you become unable to manage your finances yourself.
3. Advance Directives.  This document spells out your wishes about medical care in the event that you develop a terminal or irreversible condition and can no longer make medical decisions.  Your folks probably have told you where they stand on this.  Complete this document and periodically review it with them, so in a crisis, there's not a misunderstanding.  
4. Declaration of Guardian.  In the event that your loved one loses mental capacity, this document declares whom they wish to manage their affairs.  It addresses the guardianship of medical and financial affairs.  
5. Out of Hospital Do Not Resuscitate.  If your loved one is at the end of life and wishes to die at home, they must have an Out of Hospital DNR in place.  This document states that you do not want to be resuscitated if you stop breathing or your heart stops beating, and declares that certain resuscitative measures will not be used on you.

Now that you understand which documents are which, you can choose the ones to put in place.  Make sure to complete the Senior Care Document Checklist too, so you have a record of what you've completed and where you stored it. 

To help you keep all these documents in order, we've created the Essential Senior Care Documents Guide.  It includes detailed information about each document plus a boilerplate document you can download and fill out.  Click here to download the entire guide.