How to Create an Emergency Care Plan for a Senior

The nature of your loved one’s care should never be left up to chance. Unfortunately, life is very rarely predictable. Because of this, your emergency backup plan is one of the most valuable assets in your senior care toolbox. Learn the best way to create an emergency care plan with our 5 step system.

 

Find your base care team

Knowing who you can trust is essential as your loved one’s health begins to decline. Create a list of everyone who you would trust to care for your loved one. It is common for this team to comprise of your siblings, but can extend to family friends as well. Not everyone on this care team will be available in an emergency, and that is okay.  

 

Create an emergency care plan based on your care team

Your care team will be comprised of people who have a variety of different strengths and weaknesses. Because these people are likely family or close friends you should be able to create your emergency care plan based on their personalities beforehand.

 

Arrange your emergency plan around the people who:

1. Have flexible availability

2. Are okay with sudden changes

3. Are typically very reliable

 

Example #1:

Your brother who is very ‘Type A’ prefers a consistent schedule. Because of his nature he becomes overwhelmed with sudden change. While he is reliable, he is not the best person to have on your emergency care team.

Example #2:

Your sister, while not the most organized person, is always there when you need her. She never stresses about change. She would be a great person for an emergency care team.

Example #3:

Your friend has always been able to balance multiple schedules. She also is a single mother and has 3 children. She would not be the best person to have on an emergency team because of her important commitment to her children.

 

It is vitally important that you do not fault anyone for their personality or try to change them. Even when emotions run it is important for your team to stay united as a front.

 

Develop an emergency care schedule

Now that you know who your ideal team is for your emergency care team you should develop a schedule. Unfortunately, not everyone on your emergency backup plan will be available for you 24/7. Contact the people you want to be on your emergency backup team and have a meeting. Establish everyone’s availability and create a schedule based on that. Everyone on the backup schedule should know based on this when they are to be ‘on-call’ in case of an emergency.

 

Make the emergency care plan available to everyone

Your entire care team should understand the emergency backup plan and who is on it. Have a backup plan available in your loved one’s home where everyone can see. This plan should have the names and phone numbers of the emergency backup players. If there is ever a circumstance where a caregiver cannot make it to the home, or if a person needs to leave early they can call this person to come in a pinch.

 

Prevent incidents before they happen

If you have a feeling that a family member or a professional caregiver is becoming unreliable, confront them before it grows into a bigger problem. Sometimes when you confront them, you will realize that their erratic behavior is being caused by something else entirely and can be curtailed. If they are feeling too overwhelmed with the caregiving responsibility simply remove them and default to the backup plan until you find a replacement.

 

Always be prepared.

Strategically arranging your senior care team can be challenging. If you need assistance you can always use Caregogi’s scheduling tool available to premium and elite subscribers.

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