Finally, all the hospitalists we interviewed emphasized that they would tell their family members to designate a point person for communication. And you can’t assume that that would be their doctor son or daughter, even if they happened to be in the same locale.
“When possible, don’t stay in the hospital alone,” says Dr. Holmes. “Try to always have a family member present so that there is someone available for questions. It’s not always clear where [the physician] can reach someone or how far away [that person is]. It can take a little coordination and multiple people to do it,” she says.
Also, Dr. Farnan points out, “It is often difficult [because of time limitations] for [physicians] to repeat the same information to multiple family members.”
All patients, but especially the elderly, says Dr. Sachdeva, should have a patient advocate with them at the hospital. If they don’t have family close by, they should have “a close friend or neighbor who is willing to take on that job, someone who can be there in the room and ask these questions: What medicine are you giving me? What’s the next step? What are the options?”
Dr. Sachdeva advises relatives that they might be distressed or unable to focus, so having a healthy advocate with them may be extremely important, “the difference between life and death,” although, no doubt, he’d leave that last comment out of his advice to family. “Because a lot of the time, it is not that we don’t try to do a good job, but it’s just [that] the advocate might bring something to our attention that we might not have otherwise noticed.” TH
Andrea Sattinger has been writing for The Hospitalist since 2005.