#HowWellDoYouKnow

Preparing4Care offer a 100% FREE service. Anyone can visit our website and register for a Personal Reference Guide. They complete a number of questions across various sections to build up an encyclopaedia of their needs, wishes and preferences. Once the guide is completed the individual then grants access to their guide to a family member or loved one. If the time ever comes where that individual requires care, the trusted person they gave access to can extend that access to the healthcare provider who will be delivering the care to the individual.

When an individual requires care, it will often fall on the loved ones to make decisions about the care they receive. It can be a stressful time and is never as easy as you think it might be. Even for those, we think we know very well there will always be bits of information we forget or don’t know. There are times where this missing information can have a negative impact on someone’s care.

We have started this to show people just how hard it can be to make these decisions on behalf of someone else. We are not trying to point out that you do not know someone as well as you think you do. Well, actually…we kind of are doing that!

We are going to be running posts on our Facebook page, with different question sets over the coming weeks. What we want you to do is answer them on behalf of a loved one and get them to answer the questions for themselves. Then, you compare answers. If you are doing this for a loved one then you can get them to do it for you as well.

The relationship you choose is up to you, it can be a spouse or partner, it can be a parent, or a child, or any relative or friendship. You can even choose a different loved one for the different question sets we will be posting.

We are not asking people to post any answers online! This is something to do privately. You can get involved at any time by using the hashtag #HowWellDoYouKnow and telling us how well you are getting on, how many questions you have got correct, or just to tell us what you think of the issues and conversations this raises.

The reason we are doing is just to show that there will always be things we don’t know about someone. We will always forget something and in situations where a loved one requires care; emotions are heightened and stress-levels are raised and answering these sorts of questions can be even harder.

By completing a Personal Reference Guide, and encouraging loved ones to do the same, you can help alleviate these stresses if the situation occurs where you require care. If you require care in the future and you have a Personal Reference Guide then your answers and your preferences and wishes can be used to create your person-centred care. You get to have a say in how you are cared for and can ensure your needs and wishes can be communicated even if you cannot communicate them directly anymore.