Is family caregiving putting a strain on your relationship with your siblings? There’s usually one “KinKeeper” who holds it all together, making sure everyone does what they need to do and knows what they need to know. They have all the stuff and know all the stuff, so they end up being in charge of all the stuff.
It can be exhausting and isolating, and it’s all too often a source of conflict among family members. If you’re reading this, you may very well be that KinKeeper in your family, so this week’s tip is for you.
A common refrain (sometimes excuse) among family members is that they can’t help because they don’t have the information they need. So KinKeepers spend a lot of time helping people help them. So here’s a recommendation as to how to share information so you can share the load.
Create a profile in your KinKeepr app for your aging parent (if you haven’t already) and share it with your siblings. Make them contributors when you set permissions so that they can add information but not edit (or screw up 🙂) the information you’ve gathered and organized. Start with the following basic information:
- Copy of their drivers license (you’d be amazed at how often you’ll need this)
- Copy of their Medicare and/or other insurance card
- Current Medication list
- Current (most important) Doctors
- Serious Allergies
- Active Conditions
Don’t add to your personal workload by feeling like you need to put everything in for everyone. Instead, next time someone asks you for something, instead of texting or emailing it to them, put it in KinKeeper so they and others who may need that again can “self-serve” in the future. It reduces the excuses…and the family friction.
Take 5 minutes - Future You will thank you!
