What to bring to a medical appointment when you go with someone

Why it helps to arrive with the information organized

An appointment usually lasts ten to twenty minutes, and in that time you have to say what happened since the last one, go over the medication, and understand what the professional advises. Remembering from memory what someone takes, since when, and what changed is hard even for the person who lives it every day.

Arriving with it written down replaces nothing the professional does: it settles beforehand the part that is up to you.

The medication list, complete and current

For each medication it helps to have written down:

• The name and the form it comes in.
• The amount and the times.
• Since when it has been taken.
• Who prescribed it.

What gets forgotten most

Not the prescribed medication: the vitamins, the supplements, the drops, and anything bought over the counter. If it is taken, it goes on the list.

What happened since the last appointment

“On Tuesday he did not want breakfast” is more useful than a conclusion of your own: reading it is the professional’s job. Note the changes in the routine too, and the doses that were not taken, with the date.

The questions, written down before you go in

Questions vanish as soon as the conversation starts. Write them beforehand, even the obvious ones, and put them in order from most to least important.

Note the answers right there, or ask permission to record the instructions. Leaving with them written down saves the phone call the next day.

If you are going with someone else

Before the appointment it helps to agree on two things: what you want to say and what they would rather say themselves. Going with someone is not speaking for them, and an appointment where the person stays silent often ends in advice they do not follow.

If something worries you and you would rather not say it in front of them, decide that beforehand, not in the consulting room.

How Blist helps

If you already keep the medication in Blist, the list is ready: medications, times, since when, and which doses were recorded. The history is shared, so it does not depend on one person remembering.

With Blist+ you can export that history as a PDF, to print or to send ahead of the appointment.