Skip to content
Shared care3 min read

Supporting without deciding for them: caring while respecting autonomy

Helping is not deciding for the other person. What the law recognizes about older people's autonomy and how to bring it into everyday organization.

Helping is not deciding

When someone starts needing help with their medication, it is easy to go from supporting them to deciding for them without noticing: what is taken, who is told, how it is organized.

Often the person can and wants to keep deciding, even if they need help with some tasks.

What the law recognizes

In Argentina, the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, approved by Law 27,360, recognizes older persons' right to make decisions and to lead an autonomous and independent life. It also establishes that no medical treatment may be carried out without their consent.

Argentina.gob.ar — Human rights of older persons, Law 27,360 (in Spanish)

Ask before doing

Before organizing anything, it is worth talking with them about:

  • Which part of the organization they want to keep handling, and where they want help.
  • Who they are comfortable being told how their medication is going.
  • How they prefer to be helped to remember a dose.

Blist reminds you when each dose is due and keeps count of what is left.Get Blist

At the medical appointment

It is their appointment. Whoever comes along can help remember and take notes, but the questions are asked to them and the decisions are theirs, with their doctor. If they have difficulty deciding, it is worth discussing with their doctor.

Tell them what is done on their behalf

If someone in the family talks to the doctor, asks for a prescription or buys a medication for them, they should know. It is their treatment: finding out later, from someone else, wears down trust.

How Blist helps

In Blist, each person invited to the circle has permissions: they can only view the information or also help organize it. It is best to set them together with the person being cared for, and to review them when their needs change. If they want to use the app, there is a simple view to record their own doses.

How Blist handles itA simpler view for the person taking the medicationLarge text and fewer steps for the person taking the medication.

Start wherever works best for you

Use Blist on iPhone or Android

Choose a platform to organize your medication or, with permission, support someone close to you.

Download Blist on the App StoreDownload Blist on Google Play
Send it to your family

You may also be interested in

GuidesHow to remember to take your medication: ways to organize the routineRead article GuidesPrintable medication sheet: how to fill it in and use it at homeRead article GuidesWhen treatment changes: what to check when starting, adding or stopping a medicationRead article GuidesCount in days, not boxes: how to keep track of medication stockRead article GuidesPAMI electronic prescriptions: how to pick up medication at the pharmacyRead article Shared careHow to share caregiving among siblingsRead article GuidesGetting started with BlistRead article GuidesWhat to bring to a medical appointment when you go with someoneRead article Shared careWhat a care circle is and how it works in BlistRead article GuidesHow to organize your own or a family member's medicationRead article