This week our professor asked us to write about a communication crisis and how it pertained to our liv
es. I wondered what have I experienced that could constitute a communication crisis. I have lived in Florida and been through several hurricanes, I lived in Pennsylvania for over 18 years and went through several floods and blizzards yet these incidents did not leave me with an impression of communication crisis.
What story can I relate that would describe a communication crisis or preparation for a crisis? It would have to be something that dealt with my children or family. Several years back my husband and I were the caregivers of his mother Marcy. She had been living with us for many years and we could tell that her health was failing.
To prepare for a possible communication crisis in dealing with hea
lth care and family members we took several steps.
First we developed an emergency heath care plan:
We processed the paperwork for Marcy regarding for a DNR
Compiled a list of medications she could carry with her at all times
Contacted all medical professionals and provided them with an emergency contact list
Discussed medical treatment options with Marcy and how she would like them handled
We obtained a power of attorney to handle Marcy’s medical and financial affairs
Next we developed a communications plan:
How we would contact family members if her health would fail
Who would be the primary contact to relay information?
Who the hospital could contact to approve treatment, ect.
Lastly we organized a funeral:
We spoke with Marcy about how she envisioned the funeral
Who she would want to attend
Where she wanted her final resting place to be
What did she expect from us in handling the funeral?
Little did we know that we would need this sooner than later – Marcy developed cancer that spread from her lungs to her brain and within a 3 week period of being diagnosed she left us to be with her husband Earl.
Because we had taken the time to prepare, we were able to effective communicate with family and friends, dealt with the medical professionals quickly and efficiently and provided the type of funeral for Marcy that she had envisioned.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
COMM314 - Communication Crisis
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I appreciate that your family went through all those steps to be prepared. I know of many families that sort of live in denial about the situation they are facing and then go into panic and mayhem when everything hits the fan. It always causes discord in the family and needless hardship and hurt feelings. If only every family could be as prepared for these kinds of situations as yours was! Even though there are lots of avenues for end of life planning, it seems something we never want to face.
ReplyDeleteEven though your post was not what I expected to read under crisis communication, it totally fits! Making all those plans in advance in order to be prepared for the death of a loved one is certainly a lesson in communication skills.
ReplyDeleteAs Aimee said, so many families wait until the last moment to start asking the pertinent questions. If that happens, then you really do have a crisis on your hands, as you don’t know what the deceased’s wishes were.
Being prepared, no matter what the situation, is always better than scrambling to make do.
It sounds like you did a great job of planning when this crisis hit. You took care of what you needed to right away and dealt with it in such an organized matter that I am sure it made things easier than just doing things as they happen. I think that when things like this happen the hardest thing to do is prepare right when the crisis hits. If you take time before to prepare you will save yourself a bunch of heart ache. So even though you don’t want to all of the time, you have to prepare for the worst and do things ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteI think that this way of doing things, especially for your parents, is so awesome. You made sure that she was part of her own life. You also made it very easy on yourself and saved yourself stress when it did come time for her funeral. Instead of dweling on the funeral plans, everything was already done and you could focus only on Marcy.
ReplyDeleteI hope that someday I will do this with my own parents and inlaws.