Navigating Healthcare for Your Aging Parents: Talking to Your Doctor

Do you ever leave your doctor’s appointment, get in the car to head home and realize that you forgot to ask something? It happens to all of us. I mean we are only human, right? So, what can we do to keep that from happening? We often tell our patients at Pointe Coupee Homebound Health and Hospice to write down questions they have for their physician. That way when you are in with your doctor you can refer to your questions to make the most out of your visits. Now, we aren’t saying that you have to ask them all of your questions at one time, especially if you have a few pages full. Having 2 or 3 questions answered at each visit will help you not only retain the information that is given, but it will also help keep you from getting overwhelmed by the information obtained.

All of us want our privacy maintained. Physicians and their staff will all be following HIPPA policies. Therefore, if your parent is the patient and they want you to be able to speak on their behalf to the physician or their staff; the patient will have to sign paperwork to allow that to happen. This is helpful when you may not be the only person transporting your parent to their appointments.

How do any of us know what questions to ask the doctor? Some people may have healthcare professionals in their family to help them, but let’s face it, not everyone has that. It’s especially difficult to know what to ask in the case of advanced or chronic illness, therefore please see the attached question prompt list for advanced illness to help you talk to your doctor.

Here at Pointe Coupee Homebound Health and Hospice, we care about our community. We are the ONLY locally operated, parish-owned, and non-profit agency offering home health and hospice services to the residents of our parish and portions of our surrounding parishes. Our nurses live locally and our agency can offer all of the same benefits as other agencies that come out to our rural area. That said, call us any time! If you need guidance or need suggestions of what to ask your doctor, even if you don’t yet need home care services, we are here for you! We’re not just your healthcare professionals…we’re your neighbors! Remember ask for us by name, IT’S YOUR HEALTH…YOUR CHOICE… CHOOSE OUR LOCAL AGENCY!