What a care provider's family updates can show you, and what they can't

Hearing from your parent, or from the provider by phone, is a full way for a family to be kept informed, and written updates are one more way a provider can do it. In its handbook for caregivers who live at a distance, the Family Caregiver Alliance, a US organisation, counts gathering information, alongside coordinating services, among what the role can be expected to include. What follows sets out what written updates from a provider are, and what they are not. This page is information, not medical advice.

What it is

WeHomeCare makes software that home care providers can use to plan, carry out and record care visits.

Families do not sign up to WeHomeCare themselves; care providers use it.

What a particular provider shares with families, and how it goes about it, is a question for that provider, and one to ask with your parent. Asking a care provider how it keeps families informed has questions to start from.

Your parent decides

We think your parent should decide what their family sees, and you can ask any care provider how it makes that possible.

In Ireland, HIQA's guidance for health and social care staff lists following a person's wishes about what staff tell their family as one of the ways of respecting that person's rights.

We think what a care provider tells a family should be for the person receiving care to agree to, wherever they can.

Talking it through with your parent is the subject of Your parent's say over what the family sees.

For families

How WeHomeCare is set up differs from one care provider to another, so it is worth asking a provider which parts it uses.

WeHomeCare can be set up so care providers keep a timeline of care visits for families to view.

WeHomeCare can be set up so care providers share visit updates with families.

WeHomeCare can be set up so families and a provider's care team send each other messages.

WeHomeCare can be set up so care providers share photos and videos with families.

WeHomeCare can be set up so care providers send families reports about care visits.

What it is not

Visit updates and messages from a care provider are not a way to reach urgent help.

Visit updates and messages are not health advice, and questions about a parent's health are worth bringing to their doctor or care team.

Whatever a family has read or been told, a question about your parent's health is worth bringing to their doctor or care team, with your parent in the conversation where they want to be. For anything that can't wait, there is a separate guide: How to reach urgent help, wherever you are.

The section's About page has the same points in one place, and the hub's Caring from far away department covers more of helping at a distance.