Why the caregiver belongs in the visit
Support for family caregivers starts with a plain fact. The person who helps every day usually knows the most about how things are really going, and does the most to carry out the plan. You fill the pill organizer, notice the skipped meals and hear the cough at night.
A care plan that ignores the caregiver tends to fail quietly. Instructions are given to a patient who will not remember them. A dressing schedule assumes someone is free three times a day.
Primary care follow-up at home gives the clinician a chance to see the whole household, including you.
How primary care follow-up can include you
With the patient’s permission, a caregiver can take part in the visit in several ways:
- Being present in the room, or joining by phone from work or another city
- Describing what you have seen since the last visit, such as changes in eating, sleep, mood or walking
- Hearing the plan directly and asking for written instructions in plain language
- Having the full medication list reviewed, and asking whether the schedule can be made easier to manage
- Asking about added help, such as home health, therapy, equipment or a social work referral
Say what you can and cannot do. If you work days, cannot lift, or are not comfortable with a task, the clinician needs to know that before writing the plan.
Permission and privacy
Adult patients decide who receives their health information. The clinician will ask your relative whom to include. If the patient can no longer make decisions, the person with legal authority to act for them takes that role.
You can always give information to the care team, even when they are limited in what they can tell you. Our guide on who can receive updates covers this in more detail.
When there is a wound to look after
A wound adds work: supplies to track, dressing changes between visits, repositioning, and watching for signs of infection. It also raises the stakes for everything else you do, because blood sugar, meals, fluids, medications and movement all affect how skin heals. If you are asked to change a dressing, ask the wound clinician to show you and then watch you do it.
Gateway’s page for families and caregivers describes wound care coordination from your side. When several relatives are involved, the guide on sharing wound care responsibilities and a shared family care log help everyone work from the same facts.
Your own health counts
Caregivers often cancel their own appointments, sleep badly and strain their backs. Take these signs seriously:
- Exhaustion that rest does not fix
- Feeling irritable, trapped or hopeless
- Making mistakes with medications or missing appointments
Tell your own clinician how you are doing. Tell your relative’s care team too, since a plan that depends on you has to be one you can sustain. Our guide on caregiver burnout and asking for help suggests ways to start that conversation.
If you ever have thoughts of harming yourself or the person you care for, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 911.
What Gateway arranges
Gateway coordinates primary care at home with Gateway clinicians. We keep an existing physician involved when there is one and help connect the patient with a practice when there is not. For caregivers, we can:
- Look for visit times when you can be present or join by phone
- Note whom the patient wants included, so updates reach the right person
- Send orders for home health, therapy, supplies or equipment to the right place and follow up on them
- Share information among the primary care clinician, the wound care team and other services, so you are not the only messenger
The treating clinician makes the clinical decisions. Gateway does the arranging.
What to report between visits
Call the clinician’s office if your relative is eating or drinking much less, seems newly confused or unusually sleepy, has fallen, has missed several doses of a medication, or has a new sore, new swelling or a wound that looks or smells different. Call, too, if they need more help than you can give.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, signs of a stroke, a serious injury or a person who cannot be woken. Gateway is not an emergency service.
How to start
Call 314-325-0126 or request a callback. The form asks for a name and phone number only. On the call, tell us what is hardest right now.
Common questions
Can I call Gateway on behalf of my parent?
Yes. Family members and caregivers can call directly, and a referral is not required. We will ask where your parent lives, who is already involved in their care and what help is needed. Your parent, or the person legally able to decide for them, will need to agree to the care.
Will the clinician talk with me if I do not have power of attorney?
In most cases, yes, if your relative agrees. A patient who can make decisions may simply tell the clinician to include you. Power of attorney for health care matters when the patient can no longer decide. Without either, the care team can still listen to what you report.
What if I cannot manage the dressing changes?
Say so early. Many caregivers find wound care difficult, physically or emotionally, and that is not a failure. Tell the wound clinician what is hard. The clinician can consider other arrangements, such as home health nursing or a different dressing plan.
Is there any way to get a break from caregiving?
Often there is, though the options depend on your relative’s needs, plan and finances. Ask the treating clinician or a social worker about respite care, adult day programs and in-home help. Your local Area Agency on Aging is another place to ask. Gateway can pass your request to the clinician so it is discussed at the next visit.
Related pages
General information to help you talk with your own clinician. It is not medical advice, and the treating clinician makes every clinical decision. For a medical emergency, call 911.