Know your role when communicating with medical staff
As a caregiver, you have a vital role to play in the relationship between the person in your care and his medical care providers. Improving the communication between him and medical staff involves attention to detail, an ability to see both sides, consideration of his emotional as well as physical symptoms, and a willingness to face the most difficult news. You'll realize the benefits in his treatment and in the time you spend together.
Recognize your part in the doctor-patient relationship
• Taking an active role As a caregiver, it's easy to feel that you're just an observer on the sidelines when it comes to the relationship between the patient and his doctors, but nothing could be further from the truth. There are going to be many times when he's simply too exhausted or overwhelmed to make decisions, and you're going to find yourself in the hot seat. There will also be occasions when he's in too much pain or feeling too sick to make a call to the doctor, and it will be you on the phone trying to describe the problem.
"The first thing I tell caregivers is to go to all the patient's appointments, even if he doesn't want you to," says Michele Francis, a licensed clinical social worker at the University of California, San Francisco, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and manager of the Ida and Joseph Friend Cancer Resource Center. "People are shocked by how exhausted they feel while battling a disease and how poorly they retain information. Having the caregiver involved in the doctor-patient relationship can make a big difference in the outcome of treatment."
What follows is advice from the experts on how to make your role in this three-way relationship work for everyone.
