There were so many lessons that I learned from
the family caregivers in attendance at last week’s
Boca Raton Fearless Caregiver Conference that I
don’t even know where to start.
To be sure, we had a tremendous panel of experts
as well as speakers on topics important to family
caregivers, such as hearing health and mobility.
Yet, as usual, there was as much to learn from the
audience as there was from the experts and the
experts would be the first ones to tell you.
One of the very first questions (similar to
this week’s blast communique) during the morning
Expert Question and Answer Panel was about
successfully partnering with in-home care staff.
An audience member asked about how to work with
their loved one’s care aide when it came to money.
She liked and trusted the aide, but lived in a
different city and did not want to provide her
mother’s checkbook to pay for the goods needed for
her mother’s care.
One of the best answers (and one that even got
the panelists taking notes) was from a caregiver
sitting nearby. The caregiver said that she
had the same concerns and solved the issue by
providing money gift cards for each of the
pre-determined items her mother needed. This way,
the funds were readily available and accounted for,
giving the aide some leeway for other purchases
needed without offering access to the general
checkbook.
And with that, school was in session.
Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com
