Does anyone have any advice or solutions they found to make coordinating care easier?

[KaitlynR111857]

My grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 4 years ago. For the past 3 and a half years she’s been
at a memory care home, but because her condition has worsened, we decided to have her
spend her last moments with us at home. In addition to the sadness my family feels, we have
really struggled to coordinate the care she needs. The caregiver, my sister, my mom, and I are not
communicating effectively and efficiently. Does anyone have any advice or solutions they
found to make coordinating care easier?

[JaneCares]

This is an issue that came up for me. I have a few ideas, and as they say in Alanon, Take what you like and leave the rest...

If you all have decided that she doesn't want 'extraordinary care', one thing you can do is invite a home hospice nurse to come in for an information visit to explain what home hospice offers. Medicare is very generous at the end of life, thankfully. And there will be a nurse coordinator and a social worker who will be part of the team. Those professionals can make suggestions about coordinating between all of you, help you make priorities and decisions, suggest how you can hire additional help for, say, nights, etc.

Is it mostly daily communication of logistics? Do you have a text 'group' where you can text multiple members of the 'caregiving circle' at one time? Such as " Hey folks, anyone got an hour to run an errand?? Mom needs ____". There's a web site called Lotsahelpinghands.com that can be set up too that has a calendar and built in categories like 'meals', 'rides', 'doctor appointments. 

Are there emotional reasons for communication difficulties? There certainly were for my family. Perhaps a 'family meeting' on zoom once a week in which things are brought up and decided, so that no one can claim she was 'out of the loop' or disagrees... just a thought. 

does any of that address your question?

Jane

in rural Oregon during fire season, darn it...

[KaitlynR111857]

Thank you for your response! Your advice was really insightful and my family will really benefit from some of your tips.

[m887410o]

Hi, You might try this: https://caregiveraction.org/resources/alzheimers-videos The Caregiver Action Network has a ton of resources for caregivers. They also have a Help Desk telephone and chat line. Good luck!

[KaitlynR111857]

Thank you for this resource! I hadn't know this existed before.