The Caregiver's Toolbox: Checklists, Forms, Resources, Mobile Apps, and Straight Talk to Help You Provide Compassionate Care Paperback – August 3, 2015

I purchased this book to prepare for the caregiving needs of my mother and mother-in-law. What I discovered was that some items, specifically, personal health records, a technology plan, and risk management, were applicable to me - and my children! Now I am motivated to address these issues to protect my family at the present time as well as to ease their burden in the future.I really liked the layout of the book. It is divided into three parts: Diagnosis, Day-To-Day Tools, and Dealing With Death. I read the whole book, which got very technical at times, but you don't necessarily have to. You can pick it up and start reading at the part that applies to you. I especially appreciated the section on "What Dying People Want to Hear" because a friend's husband is dying of cancer. Now I feel more confident knowing how to better comfort him in his last days. I also want to share the book with my friend so she can benefit from the advice on preparing for his death. It offers all kinds of tips from planning a funeral and organizing tasks to be done to dealing with family conflicts during this difficult time.Several years ago my mother-in-law fell and hit her head. She was not admitted to the hospital, but I realized that we needed a power of attorney in the event she was incapacitated. She resisted the idea and would have nothing to do with it. Now that she sees her health declining, she is beginning to be more open to ideas like this. Tonight I was able to talk to her about some financial issues by referencing this book. Financial matters are an especially difficult topic to discuss. I think she was taken aback when she realized that I'd read a book about caregiving. Hopefully, she will recognize that my reading the book demonstrates my commitment to care for her and to seek professional advice for the journey ahead.

There are also many things that you don't even realize you need to do to care for a person, so this book is very helpful. If you have an aging parent this book is for you. Trust me I know first hand. This is a very difficult thing to go through. I lost my father 2 years ago to cancer. Then my mother starting showing signs of memory loss. I had to do all the things that have to be done to take care of a love one. I had no guidance, I had to learn by trial and error. I decided that I would not put my child through this so I purchased this book to help me and my wife prepare so that my son can have everything ready if that time comes for us. You need this book, it is organized perfectly so that you will have all the materials and knowledge you need to prepare for that day. God gave these authors a perfect vision for writing this book and May God bless them for this.

This book does have some helpful info in it.

The authors provide information often not available in other books on caregiving such as what Medicare and Medicaid will and won't cover and other financial considerations. Besides covering information needed for any type of insurance, the role of technology in helping people who want to remain independent and the caregivers of those who must have help is a particularly important asset that has only recently become widely available. The use of charts and links to websites beneficial to caregivers is also useful. Some of the links no longer work, but many do.

As an attorney, I am commonly faced with assisting clients who are dealing with aged family members. The Caregiver's Toolbox is a must-have for those with aged or ill family members. Making decisions about someone whose health is waning is stressful and, to a large degree, depressing, not only for the person who is suffering but for those around them. This resource brings some measure of peace to a difficult situation. While the book alone is a wonderful quick-reference guide for "what do I do" and "how do I do it", it is also an encouragement to those who are dealing with these sorts of difficulties. The stories and the testimonials for others who have already walked the path creates a footprint, if you will, for others to follow. I will definitely recommend this powerful resource to my clients and family members.

Very helpful and the content was very informative.

I am blown away by the thoroughness of this book as it provides the reader with information that can help prepare us for the inevitable. The authors' compassion for caregivers is evident in the way they thoughtfully and compassionately explored the experience of providing care for a love one. You can tell their life experiences had profound impact on the way they developed and outlined the use of the checklists, forms and technologies in organizing medical records, legal records, financial records, etc. I am recommending this book to my friends, church members and associates. There is no doubt a book like this was need to help us understand, navigate and survive the ever changing world of health care and end of life planning.God bless the authors.

Having recently been thru a caregiver situation with my father, I can only wish that I had had a resource like "The Caregiver's Toolbox" to guide me thru the decisions trees that were present at each step of his care. What I found as we progressed thru hospital care, treatment, and finally hospice care, is that many of the details and processes were accomplished as necessary instead of following a logical process. If nothing else, this book provides a very methodical process for every aspect facing an individual that has not been trained as a caregiver as they take care of their loved ones. Thank you for such a great resource for such an all-consuming topic most of us will face at some point in our lives!