Family caregiving guides

Caring for a parent is rarely one person's decision, but it usually becomes one person's job. These guides are about the part that can be agreed on: who does what, when, and how it gets recorded somewhere other than someone's memory.

• How to organize a caregiving schedule between siblings

  A method for splitting care shifts for an aging parent between siblings, with rules agreed in advance and a single place where the schedule lives.

• How to split the costs of caring for an aging parent

  Criteria for dividing caregiving expenses between siblings, what to record for each expense, and how to close the month without the conversation turning into a dispute.

• Care diary: what to record and why

  What to write down day to day when caring for an older adult, how often, and how that record changes the conversation with the doctor.

• Checklist for an older adult's doctor visit

  What to bring, what to ask and what to write down before, during and after the appointment, so you never leave the office with unanswered questions.

• How to organize medications for someone who takes several

  How to build a single medication list, organize the schedule and reduce the risk of a missed or doubled dose.

• Family caregiver burnout: the signs, and how to share the load

  How to recognize overload in the person who cares, why it usually falls on one person, and what the family can redistribute.