When family caregiving follows you to work. Part 5 of 9
A nine-part series for family caregivers and employers. When family caregiving roles conflict with work and career obligations.
Part 5 of 9: I have been answering a list of questions that have come via email to the weekly virtual seminar that I cohost.
Q: My parents will not admit that they are having issues, or genuinely do not feel that they have issues, so they refuse to accept hired help or even schedule doctor appointments. Any advice for convincing them to accept help before a crisis? In the last article, we discussed how to get help. For today, how do we get care into the home through the doctor?
A: Nurses have been voted the most trusted professionals for several years straight. I think doctors are not too far behind. The good thing is that many older adults respect and trust their doctors. Here is how to get care into the home through the doctor.
First, be sure to call the doctor’s office ahead of time to tell the doctor that you need his or her assistance to get a caring professional into the home. If the doctor has a nurse practitioner in their practice, that would even be better, because nurse practitioners have a different and unique way to doing patient education.
Second, ask the doctor to use two old fashion prescription pads and on one write “physical therapy evaluation for gait disturbance and home safety evaluation” and on the other one write “home caregiving assessment.” Medicare will pay for the physical therapy assessment partly because 82% of the people who need care in the home have some form of dementia, and with dementia, some patients suffer with spatial difficulties and depth perception. Very often when the physical therapist comes, they will find something to work on. If the therapist finds a need for teaching, such as a new medication, a nurse will be sent in under Medicare. Through the nurse, it would be easier to start the discussion for a home caregiving assessment.
If I can help you get care into the home, please call or email me anytime!
Katie Klem
