The Value of Thrown Questions

Regular readers of Today’s Caregiver magazine and caregiver.com have heard me discuss the concept of "malinformation" over the past 28 years. Malinformation occurs when what you think you know about a subject is not only wrong, but also greatly distorted in a negative way. Some examples we have spoken about over the years include hospice, long-term care and clinical trials. Which brings me to the point of today's missive.

I do not, at all, fault family caregivers for what we do not yet know and needing to ask questions. So many times, our entry into the world of healthcare comes with a phone call in the middle of the night; dad has fallen, the test results have come back, and they are not good or even that our loved one has been in an accident. Our world is instantly turned upside down, our plans shattered and suddenly we need to become “CEO’s of our Loved Ones Care.” We have entered a world chock-filled with unfamiliar acronyms; HMO, PPO, ACA, DME, LMNOP, with healthcare professionals looking to us to make life and death decisions for our loved ones.

I truly believe that the best tools at our disposal at these times are the ability to stay calm (or at least, remembering to count to ten before speaking) and asking questions of everyone involved. Our Fearless Caregiver Conferences are, as we tell our speakers, No PowerPoint, No Speechifying and no Pontification zones. We and our expert panelists are certainly in the room to teach and answer questions posed by our caregiving attendees, but, most important of all, to help caregivers learn how valuable it is to ask their questions

Rest assured, those professional caregivers that you would want to be caring for your loved ones, will appreciate answering any question you can throw at them. And, more often than not, they will be learning from you as much as they are teaching.

We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming Fearless Caregiver Conferences

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