Going to the cardiologist can help your senior to get a handle on whatever might be happening with her heart health, but it can also be a little scary. It’s important to try to get as much as possible out of that initial appointment, so following some of these tips can help.

Home Health Care in Mullica Hill NJ: Seniors Cardiologist Appointment

Find out if There Are Any Prerequisites
Your senior may have some prerequisites or requirements before her appointment. That often happens if there are specific tests or procedures that her cardiologist is planning during her appointment. It’s really important to adhere to those requirements because if she was supposed to avoid eating before her appointment, she’ll have to reschedule for that procedure if she forgets to skip breakfast.

Bring a List of Everything She Takes
Before the appointment, take a few minutes and sort through everything that your senior takes. That includes prescription and over-the-counter medications, supplements, and vitamins. If you wait until you’re at the doctor’s office, you’re likely to forget a great many of the things your senior takes during the day. One solution that helps is to start in the morning and just make a running list of what your senior takes as she takes it.

Sit Down and Brainstorm with Your Senior Before the Appointment
You and your senior both likely have questions about what’s going on. Sit down with her and take some time to talk about what she expects from her cardiology appointment and what she hopes to gain. If either of you has questions, either general heart health questions or specific questions about what she’s experiencing, write those down. This is going to help make sure that you don’t forget to bring up something that is actually really important to one or both of you.

Determine How You’re Going to Take Notes
Finding a way to capture the information you’re gaining is crucial, too. You can always take notes, which might be a good option if you’re already bringing a long list of questions. But it might also be possible to use a voice recorder, either standalone or through your smartphone, to create an audio recording that you and your senior can listen to anytime you want to make sure you’ve got exactly what her doctor said. Make sure you talk to her doctor before recording the visit, just to be sure it’s okay.

After the appointment, your senior might find that there are some things she needs to change about her lifestyle. She might need to change her eating habits or let some tasks go to be handled by other people. This is where home care providers can step in and be a huge help.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Health Care in Mullica Hill, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Attentive Care Inc. 1-800-493-5660