The Caregiver's Notebook
I've never done this on my blog before but I am so excited about my friend Jolene Philo's new book that I asked her to share with my readers and our families about her new book. Many of you know Jolene from her wonderful site DifferentDream.com. I look forward to our family using her new book, The Caregiver's Notebook ourselves!
Why Did God Choose You to Write The Caregiver’s Notebook?
Every time I read The Caregiver’s Notebook’s title, I do a double take. Why didn’t God choose someone more qualified to create a book with the subtitle An Organizational Tool and Support to Help You Care for Others?
Someone who didn’t daydream her way through elementary school?
Someone who wasn’t unorganized enough to lose a brand new penny loafer in her locker in 7th grade?
Someone who didn’t break the bell of an oboe by yanking it out of the case to practice and clunking it on a bed post?
Someone who didn’t need a high school friend to explain that classes are a breeze when you read the assigned chapters and turn in work on time?
Why did God choose me instead of someone who was naturally organized from birth to create an organizational notebook for caregivers?
Maybe He did it to give unorganized caregivers hope.
To show them that people can become more organized.
To encourage them to become more organized one step at a time.
Or maybe He used me because, like you, I’m also a caregiver.
My experiences caring for a father with multiple sclerosis, parenting two children (one with special needs), now for my mother who has Alzheimer’s taught me something you know as well as I do.
Caregiving is good work.
The best work we will ever do.
But it is also demanding work.
Time-consuming work that doesn’t allow much time for getting organized.
That’s why The Caregiver’s Notebook came into being. It was created to provide the organizational structure caregivers need, along with spiritual support to sustain the soul.
Who Can Use The Caregiver’s Notebook?
The Caregiver’s Notebook was designed for a wide variety of caregiving situations, such as:
- Adult children caring for aging parents.
- Spouses caring for husbands or wives.
- Parents caring for babies, toddlers, young children, and teens with special needs.
- Parents caring for adult children with special needs.
- Parents caring for typical babies from birth through age 3.
- Senior citizens in good health who want to have their affairs in order for whoever will care for them in case of an accident or sudden illness.
What’s in The Caregiver’s Notebook?
The notebook contains the following sections packed with easy-to-use forms:
- Emergency information
- Calendar: 3 year, blank calendar ready for you to customize
- Contacts
- Notes
- Medications
- Medical information:
- Insurance information
- Legal documents
- Routines and schedules
And it offers several special features:
- Resource list
- Bible reading plan
- 30 day prayer guides
- Glossary
- Excerpts for caregiving devotionals
- Inspirational verses and quotes
- How to instructions at the beginning of each section
- Stress-relieving tips
- Spiral bound spine so the notebook lies flat
- Pocket page in the back for business cards and papers
How Do We Use The Caregiver’s Notebook?
Not every caregiver will use every section of the book. It’s designed for picking, choosing, and adapting the contents to meet the needs of different situations. The notebook is a portable organizational system that fits in a diaper bag or briefcase. It wasn’t made to house every medical report and insurance claim, every IEP update, or every government form associated with your loved one. But you will find links to more comprehensive and less portable caregiving organizational system downloads at DifferentDream.com. At the website, you’ll also find tutorials about how to complete each section of the notebook.
Where Can Caregivers Find The Caregiver’s Notebook?
The notebook is available in bookstores and online through the publisher’s website, www.dhp.org. It can also be ordered through Jolene’s website, DifferentDream.com. Open the “Buy the Book” tab and click on the link for The Caregiver’s Notebook. The notebook can also be ordered through other online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Christian Book Distributors (CBD).
Jolene Philo is daughter of a disabled father, and she parented a child with special needs. She’s a former educator with 25 years of public school experience. Her books related to special needs include the Different Dream series and The Caregiver’s Notebook. Her blog, www.DifferentDream.com, offers practical resources and spiritual encouragement for caregivers. She also a guest blogger for Not Alone at www.specialneedsparenting.net and Friendship Circle of Michigan at www.friendshipcircle.org. Jolene speaks frequently at special needs and foster care conferences around the country and conducts special needs ministry training workshops for churches. She and her husband Hiram live in Boone. They are parents of two married children and grandparents to one adorable toddler, with two more babies on the way. You can connect with Jolene on Facebook (@A Different Dream for My Child), (Twitter( @jolenephilo), Pinterest (JolenePhilo), LinkedIn ( Jolene Philo), and at her websites, www.DifferentDream.com and www.JolenePhilo.com.