Legal documents should not be shared with everyone, and most should be kept safe from prying eyes. However, all seniors who live at home should have a plan set up in place and documents that will help them or home care decide on what to do if anything happens to them. Here are some documents you, your senior mom or dad, and your family should consider discussing.
HIPAA Forms
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a federal law in the United States that establishes privacy and security standards to protect individuals’ medical information, known as protected health information (PHI). It regulates how healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses handle PHI to ensure patient confidentiality and data security. Your loved one will likely have multiple doctors, and those doctors will need to share information on your loved one. Home care may also need to sign this agreement to keep your loved one safe. Your senior mom or dad should have all copies of whatever HIPPA forms they sign and keep track of who has information on them or who they don’t want to have information on. This will help keep their health information safe, but it is not something everyone knows to keep.
Power of Attorney
Your mom or dad may want to age in place, and it’s a perfectly acceptable choice. However, as they become older, they may start to lose the ability to make good decisions for their health and living situation. Before this happens, they should talk to one of their adult children or family members to give them power of attorney, and this information should be kept in the house. This will also help home care decide who to update on the seniors’ habits and lives. It’s good for everyone to be on the same page and good for PoA and home care to have a good rapport and trusting relationship.
Last Will
Aging is a scary process, and once your loved one dies, it can be hard to know how to split up possessions or figure out who gets what. A list will help manage all of that. Before your loved one passes on to the next stage of life, they should figure out what they want to leave behind and who gets it. This information should be secure or left with a lawyer to sit down with the family once they pass on. This is not information that just everyone should have, but it is a legal document the family should have access to.
A Living Will
You know that a last will is for possessions after a senior dies. A living will is different because it outlines what medical treatments a senior does and does not want. This can include do not resuscitate and other requests, and it can be beneficial when a senior can no longer make their own decisions on health. This document will also help a home care provider provide better care for your loved one. Everyone can be on the same page by reading through these documents.
If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in Benbrook, TX, please contact the caring staff at Clear Path Home Care today. Call (817) 631-7710.
Clear Path Home Care provides compassionate, high quality home care in Bosque County, Hill County, Navarro County, Henderson County, Erath County, Somervell County, Johnson County, Ellis County, Parker County, Tarrant County, Dallas County, Kaufman County, Rains County, Hood County, VanZandt County, and Rockwall County in Texas.
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