Caregiver Training Blog

It’s not uncommon to have anxiety over medical appointments. We want doctors to understand our concerns and help us, especially if we aren’t feeling well. Fortunately, there are things you can do to learn how to talk to your doctor effectively.

Urgent care or ER?  If someone close to you requires timely medical care, you could be faced with an important decision: should you go to an emergency room or could you seek care at an urgent care center?  If a condition seems life threatening, the emergency room is definitely the better choice. 

Ever gone for your doctor’s appointment and arrive on time and then you sit and wait and wait for your name to be called?  The time waiting can sometimes be excruciating; all the while thinking about all the possible things that may be wrong, not looking forward to being weighed or poked, as your blood pressure elevates.   For an elderly person, it can be even more difficult; therefore being prepared for the visit, may alleviate some of the anxiety.

At the end of each of the chapters in her book, The Gift of Years – Growing Older Gracefully, author Joan Chittister writes a brief summary she calls the burden and the blessing.  Being present to someone who has experienced a loss through death, divorce or is grieving after having lost their job can often weigh us down; but can also provide us with abundant blessings. It is difficult to see a friend or loved one go through the grieving process and yet not allowing or recognizing the grieving will only delay what hopefully leads to acceptance or other type of resolution.