Taking Someone to a Doctor’s Appointment: Tips for Caregivers

How to prepare for a doctor’s visit

Gather important information beforehand and take it with you to the appointment:

• Take the person’s insurance cards, names and phone numbers of other doctors they see, and their medical records if the doctor doesn’t already have them. You may want to ask the doctor to send you all the forms the person will need to complete for their visit.
• Bring a list with the names, dosage, and schedule of all medicines, vitamins, herbal remedies, over-the-counter drugs, and dietary supplements the older adult is taking. Don’t forget to include those prescribed by other doctors. To keep track, you can use the Worksheet: Managing Medications and Supplements (PDF, 161K).
• Make sure the person remembers to take their eyeglasses or contact lenses to the doctor’s visit. If they have a hearing aid, make sure that it is working well and they’re wearing it. Tell the person to let the doctor and staff know if they have a hard time seeing or hearing.
• Make a list of any questions or concerns that the older adult or other caregivers would like to bring up with the doctor.

You can also review these worksheets to prepare for talking with the person’s doctor.

If the doctor doesn’t speak the person’s language, ask the office staff to provide an interpreter. Call the doctor’s office ahead of time because they may need to plan for an interpreter from the same area or country to be available. Ensuring that the older adult can easily understand and talk with the interpreter is important for getting good care.

What to do during a doctor’s visit

Here are several ways you could be helpful during the appointment:

• Bring your list of questions, starting with the most important ones, and take notes on what the doctor recommends. Writing things down will help both you and the older person remember what the doctor said, and you can share the information with other caregivers later.
• When the doctor asks a question, let the older adult answer unless you have been asked to do so.
• It’s easy to get into a two-way conversation between you and the doctor — try not to do this. Always include the person you care for when you talk with the doctor.
• Respect the person’s privacy and leave the room when requested. The person may want a chance to ask questions or discuss sensitive topics privately with their doctor. Read more about talking with your doctor about sensitive issues.

What to do after a doctor’s visit

There are many ways to follow up after the appointment. For example:

• If you live out of town, talk to the doctor about how you can keep up to date on the older adult’s health. With the person’s permission, it might be helpful to get access to their electronic health records.
• Ask the doctor for written materials to take home and see if they can recommend community resources, if needed.
• Find help and support. Larger medical practices, hospitals, and nursing homes often have a social worker on staff who may have valuable suggestions about online or community services.

You may also be interested in

• Downloading worksheets that help organize questions and information for a medical appointment
• Reading five ways to get the most out of a doctor’s visit
• Learning about telehealth appointments