Family caregiver Stephanie Thompson’s situation is not unusual. According to a Home Instead, Inc., survey, 23 percent of American adults live more than an hour away from an aging relative they care for, and nearly 50 percent of these long-distance caregivers spend one full workday per week managing their loved one’s care. Here are some ways to make long-distance caregiving easier:
Keep vital information on your senior in one place. This could be a notebook or binder (make copies for other caregivers) or a shared, secure online document. Divide into sections for health care, social services, legal and financial issues, and contact numbers/e-mails. The first few pages should have Social Security number, date of birth, health insurance and Medicare/Medicaid numbers. Under health care, list medical conditions, medications, treatment plans, doctors.…