The one page care handoff sheet for your parent's home

Who this person is

• Write the legal name, date of birth and the name your parent answers to.Hospitals need the legal name and birth date exactly as they appear on the insurance card. A new aide needs to know that Margaret has gone by Peg since 1958.
• List allergies and past bad reactions in plain words.Write the reaction, not just the drug: penicillin causes a rash, codeine causes vomiting and confusion. Good looks like three lines a stranger can act on immediately.
• Copy the insurance identifiers exactly as printed on the cards.Medicare number, any Advantage or supplement plan, the Medicaid number if there is one, and the pharmacy plan. Note where the physical cards live in the house.
• Name the decision makers and say where the paperwork sits.Healthcare proxy or agent first, financial power of attorney second, with phone numbers. Say which drawer or binder holds the signed originals, because a copy on a phone is often refused.
• List the primary care office, the main specialist and the after hours number.One line each with the practice name and the number that reaches a human at night. Add the preferred hospital if your parent has a history with one.

Medications as they are actually taken

• Write one line per medication with the dose, the times and what it treats.Use the strength on the bottle and the real times, such as 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., not twice daily. Adding what it treats stops a well meaning helper from skipping the one that matters most.
• Mark anything held or stopped at the last discharge.Draw a line through it and write held since the discharge date, rather than erasing it. Half the medication errors at home come from a drug that was stopped in the hospital and restarted at the kitchen table.
• Record how each dose is actually given.Crushed in applesauce, half tablet, with food, or through a patch changed on Sundays. This is the detail a substitute aide has no way to guess.
• List the as needed medications with the limit and the reason.Write the maximum in twenty four hours and what the symptom looks like. For example, one tablet for pain no more than every six hours, and note who to call before giving anything for agitation.
• Note the pharmacy, the delivery day and the next refill date.Include the pharmacy phone number and whether refills arrive by mail. Good looks like a helper being able to spot a shortage four days out instead of the night the bottle empties.

The day as it really runs

• Block the hours your parent should not be alone.Mark them on a simple grid for the week. Be honest about nights, because a wandering risk at three in the morning changes who can take a shift.
• Write the name of the person who owns each block this week.One name per block, not a list of possibilities. Shared responsibility with no owner is the reason a Thursday afternoon ends up uncovered.
• Describe the wake, meal and bedtime routine in order.Include the small things that prevent a bad afternoon: coffee before anything else, the television on channel four, no shower after four in the afternoon.
• List standing appointments with the ride assigned.Date, practice, address, and the person driving. Add whether the visit needs the medication list, the walker or a urine sample brought along.
• Write the equipment routines and when they run.Oxygen settings, CPAP cleaning, glucose checks, blood pressure readings, wound care days and compression stockings on before your parent stands up.
• Note the pets, the mail and the keys.Who feeds the dog and when, where the spare key is hidden, and which neighbor has the other one. Small things, and every returning caregiver asks about them.

When something changes

• Write the three signs that mean call the doctor today.Make them specific to your parent: a two pound weight gain overnight for heart failure, new confusion, or a blood sugar reading outside the range the practice gave you.
• Write the signs that mean call 911 without waiting.Chest pain, one sided weakness, a fall with a head strike on a blood thinner, or trouble breathing. Put this box where a frightened helper will see it first.
• List who to call in order, with numbers that work at 2 a.m.Name one person as the first call and a second as the backup. A list of five equal contacts means everyone assumes someone else was reached.
• Say where the go bag and the current medication list live.A bag with the insurance cards, the proxy paperwork, a phone charger, glasses and hearing aid batteries saves an hour at the emergency room door.
• Leave a line for each shift to sign, date and note what changed.Three lines are enough: doses given, anything unusual, and anything the next person must do. This is the record that makes the next doctor visit useful.