A shared notebook in the home gives family members and aides one place for handoffs, and it works only when someone sets it up, keeps the write-in order, and closes each entry on purpose.

A shared household notebook is a bound book or one shared document kept in the home, placed where the aide sees it on arrival and where the family checks it at the end of the day. Its job is to carry news from one person to the next: what happened, what was left undone, and what needs a call. The process has five steps, and each step needs a named person before the first shift.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Step one: set up the notebook

Choose the format and the place. Write the household's contact names on the first page, along with the agency office contact and the family member who reads each entry. Keep the notebook on the same surface every time, near the entry the aide uses, with a pen attached. Write the rule for what goes in the book on the first page in plain words, such as: every visit gets one line on arrival and one line on departure.

Step two: write the entry

Each entry carries the day, the clock time, and the name of the person who wrote it. Then record the facts: what was done, what was not done, what was seen in the home, and what was asked. Write what happened rather than what the writer thinks about it. A line such as 'the front walk was not cleared before arrival' gives the next reader something to act on. A line such as 'the day seemed hard' does not.

Step three: read before the next shift

The family member reads the notebook before the next arrival and initials each entry. The initials tell the aide the entry was received. If an entry raises a question, the family writes the answer on the line beneath it so the question and the answer stay together on the page.

Step four: answer what needs an answer

Any entry that asks for a change, such as a different ride or a missed household item, gets a reply on the same page within the day. Changes to hours or to the plan go through the agency office, not the notebook alone. The notebook records the request, and the office records the decision, so neither one is asked to hold the other's job.

Step five: close each entry

Close a page when its questions are answered and every item is marked done, carried forward, or dropped. Carried-forward items move to the top of the next page, with a note of the day they first appeared. Once a page is closed, the family decides how long to keep it and where it goes. Store closed pages in one labeled folder so an older entry can be found without searching the whole book.

Rules for the notebook

Keep out anything private that the aide does not need in order to finish the day's tasks.
The notebook does not replace the written plan from the agency. It records what happened under that plan.
If an aide prefers another way to report, the family agrees a second method in writing and notes it on the first page.
Health questions go to the family's doctor, and the notebook records only that a question was asked and who was told.

Check the notebook at the first review

At the first review call, pick three entries at random and check each one for a writer, a reader, an answer where one was needed, and a closed status. A notebook missing any of those four marks is not yet running, and the household should fix the gap before adding more shifts.

The Household Notebook Runs in Order: Set Up, Write, Read, Answer, and Close Each Entry