Staying Organized
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Staying Organized
In any family, staying organized can be a challenge. As a Family Caregiver, you have the additional challenge of managing the various routines and schedules necessary to care for the Veteran you love, which can be very demanding. You have appointments to keep, prescriptions to manage, routines to maintain, and your own well being to ensure.
Below are some tools that can help you stay organized.
Medication Log
Working with your doctor and pharmacist, you have an important role in managing the prescriptions and over-the-counter medications for the Veteran you love. A medication log can help you keep track of medications, when they need to be taken, and other important information about how they seem to be working for the Veteran you care for. The log can also be a good reference when you're talking to doctors and pharmacists about whether medications need to be adjusted. Below are two different kinds of medication logs.
MyMedicationList
MyMedicationList is a prototype application developed at the National Library of Medicine that helps users manage their medication lists and make the records readily available when needed. This personal medication list can be downloaded and saved on your computer, and printed out. It serves as a reminder for taking medications, or as reference information to support continuity of care at providers' offices or hospitals. Follow the link to learn more about MyMedicationList*.
VA Caregiver Medication Log
As the Family Caregiver of a Veteran, there may be additional information you want to track for each of the medicines the Veteran takes, including whether there was a bad reaction or something simply didn't work. The VA Caregiver Medication Log (PDF) let's you log your medications and provides extra space to fill in comments about each medicine.
Questions to Ask a Veteran's Health Care Providers (PDF)
All too often we don't know what to ask the doctor about our own health, let alone someone else's. Asking the right questions and getting the right answers from the health care team treating the Veteran you love will enable you to better plan for and provide care. Download this PDF for a list of common questions you may want to ask health care providers.
*By clicking on these links, you will leave the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site.
†VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked Web site.
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Staying organized
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