Similar to most things, it is important to have an organized and orderly approach to caregiving. This will decrease stress and the time needed for care.

Step 1 - Basic care

The first things to consider are making sure that the basic needs are taken care of.  Simple things such as sleeping, moving about, and sitting may require some assistance.  The person being taken care of will spend a lot of time resting. 

• If the person is incontinent or cannot reposition themselves in bed, then learning how to properly prepare a bed makes caregiving easier.
• Bed sores and changing of position are important now. 
• When a person becomes weak and bed bound, safety becomes an issue. Learning how to change bed linens without getting the person up makes sense. 

Safely moving a person may be more difficult than you think.  Technique is vital to making this work since the person may be heavy.  Moving from a wheelchair to bed or bed to wheelchair need to be done carefully.  We explain the details of what to watch out for. 

Step 2 - Daily routine and special conditions

Healthy people take eating, bathing, breathing for granted.  Caregiving needs can be different.  Specific information is given on

• Eating - Nutrition and Safe feeding techniques, Tube feeding
• Hygiene - Safety in Bathing and skin care, importance of mouth care, incontinence, and urinary catheter care
• Breathing - Tracheostomy tube care,  Breathing exercises, and oxygen use

Step 3 - Improving Caregiving

Once the basics, daily routine, and special conditions are taken care of, it is important to make things easier.  Online ordering of supplies can be a great time saver.

Now, it is important to make the most out of the physician or medical provider visits.  We've provided a list of questions frequently asked by medical providers related to common symptoms.  This will shorten the time in information gathering and leave more time for your provider to answer your important questions.

Sometimes we cannot cure the disease, but we can control the symptoms.  Learning to live with common symptoms will provide quality of life.  

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