Senior Care Safety Plans
Senior Care in Highland Park IL
For those who are considering senior care services for their aging loved one, it is important to set up a safety plan. Once this safety plan is developed, it is also important to keep it up to date for all senior care providers coming in to offer assistance. Each safety plan should be comprehensive enough so home care providers have enough information to understand health concerns and have a list of emergency contacts.
What Should the Safety Plan Contain?
- Emergency contacts: their name, relationship to the aging loved one, and their phone numbers.
- Health concerns: are there any particular conditions in-home care providers should know about, have they had any procedures done recently, or have they been released from the hospital recently?
- Insurance information: this might be important if 911 needs to be called for any reason.
- Doctor’s contact information: should any questions come up while loved ones are under the watchful eye of an elder care provider, this information is handy.
- Nearest hospital: this is handy should something occur that does not require a 911 call, but still warrants a hospital visit.
- Local poison control: this phone number is important if a senior care provider discovers a loved one has accidentally ingested something harmful. This information is of particular importance for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.
- Fire department: this is typically a 911 call, but the local number could be listed as well.
- Police station: this is typically a 911 call, but the local number could be listed as well.
- Any other instructions: in this area, family members can provide information for their senior care provider that are specific to their loved one’s needs.
How Often Should the Plan be Updated?
Family members should meet together to discuss the changes in their loved ones safety plan each time the following occurs:
- Doctor’s visits: if new instructions are received by their doctor, this information should be reflected in the safety plan for the senior care provider.
- Hospital stays: sometimes special instructions are necessary following a hospital stay, and this information must be relayed to an elder care provider.
- Insurance or doctor changes: this information needs to be updated as soon as it occurs.
- Emergency contacts: if for any reason an emergency contact must be added or subtracted from the list, this information must be updated immediately.
- Additional special instructions: this information could change regularly, or it may not change that often at all. The important thing is for family members to read it often and make sure the information is still pertinent.
Where Should the Plan be Kept?
One of the best ways for family members to ensure their senior care provider sees and is utilizing the safety plan is to keep it in a centralized location. Some good suggestions include keeping a copy on the refrigerator, on a corkboard above a desk in a central location in the home, or next to the door that is exited from the most. It is a good idea to keep the safety plan to one sheet, too, so it can be laminated. That way, as it is frequently handed it doesn’t become damaged.
If you or an aging loved one are considering senior care services in Highland Park, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.
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