Caregiver Hints

I’m a pretty regular Google user. I have a Gmail account, although it’s more of a backup than my primary email account. Once Google swallowed up Blogger, they got me there too. I also used Google Calendar for work for a while. So, I frequently browse over to Google’s Product and Lab pages to see what else they have cooking.

A few months ago I ran across one of their latest experiments, Google Health.

In their own words…

“Google Health allows you to store and manage all of your health information in one central place. And it’s completely free. All you need to get started is a Google username and password.”

“Google believes that you own your medical records and should have easy access to them. The way we see it, it’s your information; why shouldn’t you control it?”

• Keep your doctors up-to-date
• Stop filling out the same paperwork every time you see a new doctor
• Avoid getting the same lab tests done over and over again because your doctor cannot get copies of your latest results
• Don’t lose your medical records because of a move, change in jobs or health insurance

The service is still in beta, meaning it is still in early stages of development, as most Google services are (even GMail is still listed in beta), but seems to be a good start. Keep this in mind if you are considering using it on a daily basis.

It would be difficult to cover the service in it’s entirety in this article, especially since it appears that Google is constantly adding new features to it. The most recent includes the ability to link your Google Health account to other services such as pharmacies, so that you can track additional health info from your Google Health pages. Currently, the list of participating companies is small, but includes the likes of Walgreens, Longs Drug Store, and Quest Diagnostics.

As it stands now, I’m not sure how useful it would be to the individual user wishing to track their health info. I do believe it is the ideal application for managing health data for individuals that have multiple caregivers or family members who may need access to the same information such as lists of medications or doctor appointments.

I look forward to seeing how this service develops. I have not yet looked into the security issues of maintaining health info on Google Health, but I see it as a viable tool for caregivers to help manage the frequently overwhelming mass of data needed to care for an individual.

I found this little tidbit just in time

National Family Caregivers Month is organized each year by the National Family Caregivers Association and is designated as a time every year to thank, support, educate and empower family caregivers.

“This year we are encouraging people to speak up during National Family Caregivers Month.” said Suzanne Mintz, NFCA president and co-founder. “One of the most important attributes on being an advocate for your loved one is the willingness and the ability to speak up and keep your eye on the ultimate goal, protecting not only the health and safety of your loved ones but for yourself as well.”

Be sure to use this time to make an extra special effort to encourage a caregiver you know. It’s a difficult job and getting a “thank you” or acknowledgement frequently can help a caregiver through that particularly tough day, but use this month to do something a little extra special.

Respond in the comments with any particularly good ideas you come up with and would like to share or let us know what YOU did for the caregiver in your life that is helping you to taking care of a friend or family member, or is taking care of his/her own loved ones.

And if you are a caregiver, take extra time to do something for yourself. The holidays are just around the corner and you might not get another chance for a while.

I wanted to bring some attention to this web site, not only because it is run by a fellow caregiver, but also because I think it does a great job of highlighting the design aspects of products, and how they relate to making peoples’ lives easier. Some of the posts may relate directly to the elderly or handicapped, but I think it also emphasizes how good design can benefit everyone.

In their own words…

“This is a collection of design-thinking news, products and services around the Critical Support Point (CSP) of aging, the point when we may turn to our built environment, helpful products, and assistive services to prolong independence and maintain the daily life we want.

My purpose is to refocus user centered design-thinking to encourage the development of innovative products and services that extend and enhance the Critical Support Point. Increasing design-thinking around this topic will transform how society views, and how individuals experience the aging process.”

In today’s world of electronic-based lifestyles, social networking through the internet, and smart-phones, I think it pays for us as a society to start looking at how this evolution is affecting the older generation, and how it will affect future generations as the pace is likely to move even faster. Products need to be able to “talk” to everyone, and focus on usability, not just functionality.

So swing by Good Age Design Well and have a look.

I recently saw a report on the news about what happens to left-over medicine at hospitals and care facilities once the patient no longer has use for the prescriptions. Sent back to the pharmacy…no. Recycled….no. In fact, the pills and other items are literally flushed down the toilet.

Here is the report from the CBS news affiliate in San Francisco.

Millions In Unused Pills Going Down The Drain

The report says that because there is no policy dictating the redistribution of such medicines, most facilities elect to flush them while millions of elderly and sick who can’t afford medication go without.

I plan to follow this story further and update this post. I’m hoping there is a petition or something in place to put a policy in place to get these kinds of medications to people who need them.

UPDATE:
I looked for other references to this issue and so far nothing. Unbelievable. I’ve submitted this to DIGG.com. If you have a Digg account or don’t mind creating one, be sure to go to this link.

Digg this article!

Thanks to the folks over at Content.Robot, you can now access this site easily on an iPhone! If you come to the site using Safari on the iPhone or iPod Touch, the content will be reformatted to fit nicely on the screen with a very elegant and simplified theme. I almost wish the “regular” site looked like that. If you’re browsing the site with an iPhone, leave a comment or drop me a note to let me know how you like it. One of my objectives of the site is to help busy people (and who isn’t busy) get quick, useful information to help them with the job of caring for others. Hopefully this addition will make it easier for some folks by allowing them to use that time sitting on the bus, or waiting in the doctor’s office more productively.