I’m talking about the AARP Foundation’s Prepare to Care: A Planning Guide for Families. Have you seen this 30 page booklet? I picked up my copy from the AARP table at the Sacramento County’s 31st Annual Mental Health Aging Conference, The 3Rs of Elder Financial Abuse, held on October 20, 2011.
I didn’t look at the AARP booklet until later and I absolutely love it. The point of this booklet is to help you and your family plan for the FUTURE. For aging, for caregiving, for identifying where in the world in your home is the important paperwork.
Why do I care about this? This is some of the most important work that MaryAnne and I do – helping individuals and families get their homes, their possessions, and their paperwork in order before the unexpected happens. We also help people after the unexpected happens, but it is so much easier and less stressful for all involved to get things in order before the unexpected happens. I know to expect the unexpected to happen.
The AARP’s Prepare to Care booklet introduces the reader to 5 steps to create a caregiving plan for you and your family:
- Prepare to Talk
- Form Your Team
- Assess Your Needs
- Make a Plan
- Take Action
The booklet then has fill-in sheets to identify contact people, where the important documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce records, military papers, etc.) are kept, so that NO family member has to guess where these documents could be in a time of crisis.
The booklet then ends with possible resources, names and websites, that could help someone who is struggling to identify resources.
If you look at the booklet and the format doesn’t work for you – use it as a springboard and create your own system. Remember though – if you create your own system, keep it simple for someone else to understand in a time of crisis.
Great Links:
Here’s the AARP Prepare to Care: http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/foundation/aa66r2_care.pdf
Hope you like this FREE booklet as much as I do!
–Jeanne
