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Hi DianeEl,

Midkid58 is right--you can hire a professional caregiver through a home care agency to accompany your father to his appointments. Many agencies offer transportation to and from appointments and for errands as well.

A Geriatric Care Manager (GCM) can also help with these things, and some home care agencies offer care management services in conjunction with hands-on care.

You can read more about these services in the articles below:

Home Health Aides Go Above and Beyond as “Appointment Companions”
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/home-health-aides-go-above-and-beyond-as-appointment-companions-186675.htm

Benefits of Hiring a Home Care Companion for an Older Adult
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/benefits-of-hiring-home-care-for-an-older-adult-182771.htm

How Geriatric Care Managers Can Help Busy Caregivers
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/geriatric-care-managers-help-for-elders-needs-138976.htm

For assistance with finding home care or a GCM, simply click "Find Care" in the blue navigation bar at the top of this page.

I hope this helps!

-AgingCareEditor
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I would trust a Geriatric Care Manager before I would trust a caregiver from an agency.
Most Geriatric Care Managers that I have seen have some medical training or background. This would be an advantage as they would ask the questions that you would ask.
A GCM will cost more than the caregiver from the agency but they also are there to help manage other aspects of care as well.
And as the old adage goes...ya get what you pay for.
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Having someone take him to visits will not be helpful unless this person can answer questions about his daily activities, diet, behavior and mobility.
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You can hire a caregiver and that person, with your permission (get it written) could take your dad to appointments and take notes. I worked elder care and did just that. Then I would either type up the notes and give them to the most involved child or make notes in our "daily routine" calendar, if it was something simple, say, a podiatrist appt to get her nails cut.
I could NOT make decisions about her care, be mindful of that. I was simply the "ride" and the "scribe". And I did have written permission. And I did have a list of all her meds and I knew her well enough to know if she had been having new symptoms.
You have to have a LOT of trust to give this off to a "stranger".
I know of no such "service"--taking someone to the dr can be a pretty intimate thing.
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I had excellent results with one Caregiver who was helping my Dad.   She was more than happy to drive Dad to his doctor appointments and be in the exam room with him.   Dad felt comfortable with her there.   After the appointment the Caregiver would give me an update.   She would also make the follow-up appointments and wrote them down on Dad's wall calendar.

My Dad was paying out of pocket for his caregivers who were from a licensed Agency.   They were worth every penny.   I was so glad Dad saved big time for this time in his life.
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Hire a geriatric care manager for this purpose. True, they are more expensive than a companion, but they are professional and trustworthy. Additionally, they can advocate for your father during the appointment, like raising medical history questions, working with the doctor to identify best solutions for Dad, reporting symptoms, and assisting with appointment follow-up.

Go to aginglifecare and use their ZIP code search. Your area agency on aging may also have lists of local care managers. Best of luck!
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Unless you hire someone to take care of him on a day-to-day basis who knows what his medical issues are, just sending anybody with him to the doctor to "take notes" is not a smart thing to do. If you have legal right to his medical information, you can always get a copy of the office notes to find out about the office visit. You're always better off going to the doctor's office with your father yourself.

Also, I don't know that anybody or any "service" would be comfortable doing something like this, as they would be acting as a "messenger" of medical information--and many elder "companions" don't have actual a sufficient amount of medical or healthcare experience to relay the proper information to you. If you need to know about your father's medical condition & what's going on to make decisions about his medical care, it would be negligent to rely on information coming from somebody like that for that purpose.
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There are time when one has to hire a caregiver, a person who comes on a regular basis and knows her clients, and help out with doctor appointments.

One year my parents had 40 doctor appointment, many were follow-ups to follow-ups, hearing aid adjustments, dentist, eye doctors, eye glasses, etc.   I was working full time and had used up all my vacation days, all my sick days, and I didn't want to touch my FMLA in case I needed it for myself [which I did due to my own serious illness].  Also had many days without pay.   All this time off didn't sit well with headquarters and my career was in jeopardy.

The hired Caregiver was a godsend for me :)
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Sometimes the DR office is good to work with. My uncle lives in smaller town in another state + his DR office will communicate with me by phone. He has given permission. My only problem was when I was on cruise with a time difference. They like to return calls at 4 pm their time, and of course my ship had sailed - literally. But with messages left, we got it accomplished. I have asked for copies of test results, etc so I could read or research the info so that is also an option.
Find out who the assistant to the DR is, and have a conversation with that person as to what you would like after appointments with regard to communication. Sometimes there is a person serving as interface for patients - I forget what her title is at the office. I was there in person in November so we now have a 'face with a name' and I have met Dr. and some staff.
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As far as getting to doctors, you can hire an aide or someone else to take them. As to medical information, I think you personally must find a way to give and get information from the medical people. I would not trust anyone to do this and I doubt they would be willing to do so. You might also want to contact the RSVP office in your county. They are the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and their volunteers will drive people without charge.
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