I attended a talk last Wednesday at Avenidas Senior Center in Palo Alto on “Navigating the Hospital Stay: A Caregiver’s Role.” I picked up two pieces of info that were worthwhile.
First, Medicare offers a discharge planning checklist. See:
medicare.gov/pubs/pdf/11376.pdf
If you are advocating for someone else in the hospital, going through this checklist is an important part of your caregiver role. If you are in the hospital, it’s always a good idea to have a family member or a friend there advocating for you, taking notes, and completing this checklist on your behalf.
Second, if you are at the hospital and are not understanding the discharge plan, having trouble getting your point across, having difficulty advocating for yourself or your family member, or needing a mediator, you can call “Guest Services,” request the assistance of the social worker, or request assistance of the hospital religious staff, such as the chaplain. (The group at Stanford Hospital that deals with complaints and patient issues is called “Guest Services.” It might be called something else at other hospitals.) You can even request these things in the ER. Most ERs have on-call social workers, for example.
Robin