Essential Tools To Stay Organized While Caring for Aging Parents

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Wirecutter Show

Episode: Essential Tools To Stay Organized While Caring for Aging Parents
Date: March 18, 2026
Hosts: Christine Cyr Clisset, Kyra Blackwell
Guest: Rachel Saracola (Senior Tech Writer, Wirecutter)

---

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the tools, gadgets, and organizational strategies that can help caregivers—particularly those assisting aging parents—manage the challenges of caregiving. Guest Rachel Saracola shares insights from her reporting, including practical product recommendations and first-hand stories from families and professional caregivers. The discussion covers key categories such as scheduling, communication, medication management, and handling vital paperwork, emphasizing both tech-forward solutions and the importance of balancing technology with personal comfort and needs.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Complex Role of Caregiving

• Emotional and Logistical Challenges: Christine highlights, “there’s a huge to-do list every day and it can be a very rewarding and exhausting job” (01:13).
• Importance of Organization: Rachel explains that being organized is vital—not just for convenience but also for safety. “When it comes to caring for someone, it really can be life-threatening, for lack of a better word” (06:43).

---

1. Scheduling Tools and Solutions

Challenges in Scheduling

• Tracking doctor’s appointments, daily tasks (like eating and drinking), and coordinating multiple caregivers (08:33–09:20).

Product Recommendations

• Skylight Calendar

  • What it is: A large, color-coded digital calendar display for home use. Remotely editable via an app; events can be added by multiple people.
  • Cost: “About 300ish dollars. A little over 300. It depends on the size that you get.” (10:36)
  • Why it helps: “It's hard to ignore this calendar that's sitting on your counter… and you can easily add things to it through an app.” (09:25)
  • Hosts’ Enthusiasm: “I would use this with my kids… so I could see where it has pretty wide applications.” — Christine (10:08)

• Relish Day Hub & Relish Day Connect

  • What it is: A simple digital clock (shows day, time, day of week) and a task-tracking device that gives reminders and lets users check off daily tasks.
  • Best for: “Tasks that you’re completing every single day… like take your medicine, take a shower, eat lunch” (12:29).
  • Cost: “That’s about $200.” (12:35)

---

2. Communication Strategies

Common Hurdles

• Keeping everyone (siblings, professional caregivers, etc.) informed and organized can be tricky (12:47).

Effective Tools

• Shared Notes & Docs

  • Low-Tech Options: Shared iPhone Notes or Google Calendar.
  • More Robust Option: One caregiver created a Google Doc manual for his father, including videos for new caregivers. “It’s amazing the things that you can come up with with just even free tools.” — Rachel (13:46)
  • Key Tip: “Always get it in writing.” — Christine (13:35)

• Smart Home Devices

  • Amazon Echo/Alexa: Reminders, schedules, communication (audio/video calling), entertainment.
  • Alexa Emergency Assist: “They can call out to their Alexa speaker and it’ll put them in touch with police or fire.” — Rachel (14:55)
  • Jubilee TV: Remote universal remote for TVs, allows caregivers to control and troubleshoot issues remotely, plus send messages or video chat (15:14).

Transparency with Technology

• Clear household communication is crucial. “You need to have a discussion with the person who’s going to be living with [the tech]. That’s not the kind of thing that you want to surprise anyone [with].” — Rachel (16:33)
• Disclose smart devices to all household visitors or helpers for legal and privacy reasons (17:05–17:19).

---

3. Medication Management

The Problem

• Risk of forgetting doses or uncertainty about whether medication is taken as prescribed (20:31).

Recommended Tools

• Hero Smart Pill Dispenser

  • What it does: Dispenses the correct medication at the right times, sends alerts to the user and caregivers if doses are missed.
  • Cost: “Very expensive. It actually has a subscription cost that's $45 a month with a 12 month commitment.” (21:53–22:01)
  • Rachel’s Note: “If you don’t take your medication, can you put a price on that? Probably not.” (22:05)
  • Insurance Tip: “Always check with your insurance company… or if you have an HSA, you should check and see if you can apply any of that to this device.” (22:05)

• General Guidance

  • “There’s no substitute for being there in person, but obviously you can't run over every single time a pill needs to be taken… so being able to have these substitutes can help.” — Rachel (22:42)

---

4. Organizing Paperwork, Notes, and Budgeting

The Challenge

• Handling mountains of paperwork: passwords, birth certificates, power of attorney, account numbers. Physical copies often still required (23:14).
• “I spoke to one woman who said that someone told her to fax paperwork, and she was like, fax? I didn't know they still had fax machines.” — Rachel (24:05)

Tools & Suggestions

• Documo (Digital Fax)

  • What it does: HIPAA-compliant, secure digital document faxing.
  • Why it’s helpful: “You can take pictures on your phone, or… documents on your computer, and just send them digitally… it prints out on the other end to somebody else’s fax machine.” (25:01–25:08)

• Todoist

  • What it is: A task and checklist app that can be shared among caregivers.
  • Use case: Shared checklists for caregivers, tracking appointments, grocery lists, and doctor questions (25:20).
  • “I love a checklist.” — Multiple speakers

• Moneydance

  • What it does: Personal finance and budgeting software; tracks multiple budgets, itemizes spending for reimbursement/records.
  • Use case: Helpful for those handling finances for someone else, especially when multi-source reimbursement is needed (e.g., VA benefits) (26:21–27:17).

---

5. Tech Savvy or Tech-Skeptical?

• Rachel's Advice: “If you're not comfortable with technology, you should really ease into it… you need to figure out what is best for you. You don’t want to complicate things by adding tech into it if you’re not comfortable with the technology.” (28:27)

---

6. Additional Helpful Devices for Aging in Place

• Smart Bulbs & Smart Plugs (29:25)
  • Why useful: Easy to set up, affordable, enhance safety (like lighting rooms automatically to prevent falls), manage electrical devices remotely.
  • Example: “You connect [a smart bulb] to an app and you can set it up to go on and off at certain times of day.” — Rachel (29:25)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the Emotional Nature of Caregiving:
  “There's probably no greater service and honor you can show your loved ones than taking care of them... it can be very challenging. It's very emotional.” — Christine (31:42)

• On Organization as Relief:
  “Focusing on the ways you can build some of these tools into your life... can maybe lift some of the burden.” — Christine (31:58)

• Assessing Value:
  “Everybody has to do what's best for their families… We have mentioned some free things… Prioritize what you think you'll get the most value out of.” — Christine (33:05)

---

Important Timestamps

• 05:46 – Rachel’s personal connection to caregiving and how she approached the article.
• 08:33 – Scheduling challenges and introduction of tech tools.
• 09:25 – Skylight calendar discussion.
• 11:02 – Relish Day Hub overview.
• 13:05 – Communication challenges + Rachel’s DIY Google Doc “manual” example.
• 14:13 – Using Amazon Echo/Alexa for reminders and emergency help.
• 15:14 – Jubilee TV remote management and messaging.
• 16:33 – Privacy and consent when installing smart devices.
• 21:00 – Medication management tools (Hero pill dispenser).
• 23:26 – Handling paperwork, passwords, and why actual paper is needed.
• 24:23 – Documo digital fax service.
• 25:16 – Todoist for checklists and collaboration.
• 26:21 – Moneydance for multi-budget household finances.
• 29:25 – Smart bulbs and plugs for safety and convenience.

---

Takeaways

• Not all solutions require investment—free tools like shared digital notes, Google Docs, or physical folders can be just as helpful, depending on the situation.
• High-tech devices (digital calendars, pill dispensers, remote communication tools) can help alleviate day-to-day stress, but only if caregivers and loved ones are comfortable using them.
• Transparency and consent are crucial when integrating technology into someone else’s home environment.

---

Closing Thoughts

This episode provides a balanced, empathetic look at the realities of family caregiving—offering actionable product recommendations, clever low-cost solutions, and candid acknowledgment of the emotional toll. Listeners are encouraged to pick and choose strategies that fit their family’s needs, tech comfort, and budget. As Christine sums up, “Prioritize what you think you’ll get the most value out of.”

---

For further details, resources, and product links, see the episode show notes or visit Wirecutter’s articles referenced in this discussion.

Transcript

[Alexa Advertisement]

Say hello to the all new Alexa, our smartest, most proactive AI assistant yet. Chat naturally about anything and watch your to do list disappear. Planning date night One conversation handles everything from dinner reservations to entertainment. Alexa learns your style, anticipates what's next, and puts thousands of services at your fingertips. Experience AI that's all yours. And now Alexa is free with prime on your Amazon devices like echo and Fire TV. Amazon.com Alexa +.

[Rachel Saracola]

There's no substitute for being there in person, but obviously you can't run over every single time a pill needs to be taken or somebody doesn't know how to change the channel on the tv. So being able to have these substitutes can help. And also maybe you go in and you're spending more quality time versus counting pills and making sure medication is taken.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I'm Christine Cyrcassette and you're listening to the Wirecutter Show. Kyra Christine, we're back and we are here to talk about one of potentially the most kind of emotionally complicated topics we've ever covered on the show.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That is definitely one way to put it. It's something that I tend to try to keep far out of my mind.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Today we are talking about tools for caregivers, specifically tools and gadgets that can help caregivers stay organized. We recently published an article about this as part of a series of articles about aging in place. And we covered this last week on the show, too. Anyone who has been a caregiver really knows how challenging this role can be, whether you're a parent who's taking care of young children or you're taking care of an aging parent, an ill spouse, or someone else in your life. You know, there's a huge to do list every day and it can be a very rewarding and exhausting job. I've watched the people around me who have been in this role and it can be really challenging, especially if you're juggling work, family and other responsibilities.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That's right. So last week we aired an interview with our colleague Doug Mahoney about the small, big remodels you can make to your home to make it a better place to age. In place. It's packed with a ton of great advice for specific products that can really make your home more comfortable and safe for someone who's getting older.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

And in this episode, we're going to talk with our colleague Rachel Saracola, who is a writer on our tech team. She wrote this great piece with a lot of recommendations for tools and gadgets and strategies that can be helpful to keep caregivers organized.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And although we'll be focused in this conversation on caregiving for older people, we really feel like many of the tools we discussed would be really helpful for people with kids, roommates, or anyone sharing a household.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

We'll talk with Rachel right after the break.

[Alexa Advertisement]

Say hello to the allnew Alexa plus our smartest, most proactive AI assistant yet. Chat naturally about anything and watch your to do list disappear. Planning Date night One conversation handles everything from dinner reservations to entertainment. Alexa learns your style, anticipates what's next, and puts thousands of services at your fingertips. Experience AI that's all yours. And now Alexa is free with prime on your Amazon devices like echo and Fire TV.

[LinkedIn Advertisement]

Amazon.com Alexaplus for small businesses, every hire matters, but the time and resources required to hire right are Limited. Luckily, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is built for that reality. Posting a job isn't always the hard part. It's finding, connecting with, and screening the right candidates. Hiring Pro streamlines the entire process. Nearly 60% of hirers find a candidate to interview within a week. Hire right the first time, post your job and get $100 off towards your job [e-mail] Wirecutter that's LinkedIn.com Wirecutter terms and conditions apply.

[Northwestern Mutual Advertisement]

This podcast is supported by Northwestern Mutual. As someone who trusts expert advice, you should do the same with your finances. So now is the right time to talk with a financial expert about money recommendations. Northwestern Mutual can match you with a financial professional who'll build a plan based on what's important to you, looking out for your blind spots and finding new opportunities to help grow your wealth and protect what you've worked so hard for. Find a better way to [e-mail] the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Welcome back. With us now is Rachel Saracola. Rachel is a senior writer on our tech team focused on smart home. She's written about smart home devices for over 25 years and in addition to this piece on tools for caregivers, she's also written a very helpful article about tech devices for people aging in place and fun fact. In college she was on a reality trivia show on MTV called Remote Control and she made it to the last round. So if we ever do a trivia bar night as a team, Rachel, you're coming with us.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Absolutely. Rachel, welcome to the show. And yeah, you're on my team.

[Rachel Saracola]

Thank you. I'm very excited to be here and would be honored to be on your

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Trivia Team Rachel, we're gonna get into a lot of this great advice that you have in this piece about tools for caregivers. But I am curious, do you have experience as a caregiver? What is your background in this?

[Rachel Saracola]

Well, I got interested in doing the article because I was having my own kind of personal experience at the time. I wasn't the caregiver, but I had an out of state family member who was requiring 247 care last year. She had a professional caregiver. And also all of my siblings, they were all dealing with it as well. I would call them all caregivers and they were keeping me very informed about what's going on. In this piece, we talk about how you can get in touch with other caregivers, whether they're family members or professional caregivers. And that's what I was experiencing. My family had a group text chain, team text chain, and they kept me very informed on everything that was going on.

[Kyra Blackwell]

This piece that you wrote about is all about just staying organized. And that sounds like it's really basic, but why is it so important for caregivers to stay organized?

[Rachel Saracola]

Oh, my gosh. Just, just think about the stuff that you have to do this week, this month, now add another person into the mix and maybe you have kids. So just trying to organize all of that is difficult. But when it comes to caring for someone, it really can be like life threatening, for lack of a better word. Maybe you have to keep someone's medications organized, you have to keep their appointments organized. You have to make sure that they're eating standing up, that they're drinking water, that they're getting communication with other people. So it's. It' very important to organize all of those things. And I think it can really weigh on you if you're not organized.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I know you talk to a lot of people for this story. I'd love to hear about the types of people you spoke with. Were they professional caregivers? Are they people taking care of maybe a spouse, a parent, someone else in their life?

[Rachel Saracola]

I actually spoke to both professional caregivers and people that were caring for their parents. For this specific piece, we're really focusing on older people, but I wish I could include all of the stories because so many of them are so important and so interesting. I've talked to people that were caring for spouses, and then I've talked to other people that were caring for children, and I'm hoping to incorporate their stories in other pieces down the line. For this specific piece, I was more focused On I'm going to call them regular people that were caring for their parents.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And in your piece, you cover some really broad categories where it's specifically helpful for these normal people or caregivers to stay organized. And that's in scheduling, communicating with others, managing medications, and managing paperwork and budgeting. So we want to walk through each one of these. Let's start with scheduling. What are the biggest challenges here?

[Rachel Saracola]

I would say just keeping track of all of the appointments, things like eating and drinking. You don't think that those things need to be scheduled. But if people have dementia or any kind of memory loss, it's a big problem. So you may have to schedule those type of believe it or not. But also if you're dealing with other people, like siblings or professional caregivers, you want everybody to be on the same page.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I think we talked a lot about that, Rachel, when we first assigned this piece, that managing remote caregiving or managing a caregiving situation, like with siblings, or maybe you've got a team of people, maybe there's a home health aide, maybe there's a couple other people helping. And that's when things can get really tricky and very confusing when it comes to scheduling.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So what are the tools that your experts recommended for helping with scheduling?

[Rachel Saracola]

Well, one popular item was the Skylight calendar. I had heard of it before this piece. It's really popular with families. It's hard to ignore this calendar that's sitting on your. Either your counter or it's mounted to the wall and it's color coded. And you can easily add things to it through an app. It just focuses on the calendar.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I am kind of into this. I didn't know about this thing before. I looked at it when you wrote this piece. And it's basically this big digital screen that goes on the wall or on your counter. And it's just. It looks like you're looking at a Google Calendar, essentially. But you can kind of move events. And is it a touchscreen?

[Rachel Saracola]

I believe it is a touchscreen. Yeah.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

To me, I was like, I would use this with my kids. Like, this is the day you do these chores. This is the day so and so is going to gymnastics. This is the day that grandparents are coming into town. So I could see where it has pretty wide applications.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes.

[Kyra Blackwell]

But the idea is that it's. You can operate it or add things to it remotely.

[Rachel Saracola]

Right, Right. And that way multiple people can add things to it if necessary. They can all have the app. But also you can add things like brush your teeth, you know, something simple like that.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

And how much is that?

[Rachel Saracola]

It's about 300ish dollars. A little over 300. It depends on the size that you get. There's more than one size, so it's

[Christine Cyrclassette]

a bit of an investment. That's like not just buying a wall calendar, but if you're going to use it a lot and it saves a lot of grief, that could be worth it.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes. Another great thing about it is that you can sync it with other calendars like your Google Calendar or your iPhone calendar and it will just show up right on the screen.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That is nice.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That's even better.

[Kyra Blackwell]

What else did your experts recommend?

[Rachel Saracola]

Another one that came up is this item I had never heard of called the Relish Day Hub. There's actually two products. There's a thing called the Relish Day Connect, which is a simple clock. And you think, oh, what's the big deal about a clock? Well, this clock shows the day, the time, the day of the week. And for people that have memory issues, that's a big deal. So it's very helpful when you add the hub into the mix. You can add tasks on it. So very similar to the skylight, except maybe a little bit more simplistic. You actually write the tasks on the screen. So maybe it says brush your teeth, it says get dressed, it says go for a walk. And as these tasks come up, you will get an alert on the device and then you can also check them off as they're completed. And then at the end of the day, it'll just kind of erase itself. Not the tasks, just that you had checked them off so you can start over again the next day.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So this could help someone who potentially doesn't have someone at home all the time helping them. Right. Like maybe this might be something if you know your parent or someone else has memory issues, that this can help them stay on task and do the things they need to do. Not being supervised 100% of the time.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes. And I would say it's really for tasks that you're completing every single day. So it's not like the random doctor's appointment or the random lunch that you're having with somebody. It's things that you need to do every day.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Right. Take your medicine, take a shower, eat lunch, all that, drink some water.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes.

[Kyra Blackwell]

How much does this one cost?

[Rachel Saracola]

That's about $200.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Still not cheap.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes. Nothing in this category is cheap.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Let's move from scheduling onto another tricky one, communication. This can be really difficult if you're coordinating a lot of people. But were There any common themes that came up in your reporting about, you know, the communication challenges that people have related to caregiving, figuring out a way

[Rachel Saracola]

to communicate that's easy for everyone involved. So, you know, I spoke to somebody that said they used iPhone notes that they shared with their sibling, and that was just a shared document basically on their phones or Google Calendar or maybe it's a text chain, but yet. So just a way that you're comfortable with, I would say, figure out what's best for you. Also just keeping clear records so that everybody knows what's going on. Like, when you're communicating, it's a good idea to just make sure everything is correct.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Get it in text?

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes. Always get it in writing. Yes.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Were there other tools or services that came up in your reporting that people found really helpful?

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes. I spoke to one gentleman who used Google Docs, which is also free, but he created an entire manual of his father. So anytime he had a new caregiver, there was a manual on basically how to take care of him. He mentioned that he was tired of telling new caregivers, like how to work the washing machine. He made a video that was in this document. It's amazing the things that you can come up with with just even free tools. So that was one. And then there were a few other devices, one being the Amazon Echo, which has Alexa built in. It's great for helping with schedules, helping with reminders, but also with communication. So if you have a smart speaker in your home and your loved one has smart speaker in their home, you can talk to them through the device. If you have a screen, you can talk face to face. And maybe even if you don't have a screen, if you have the app, you can talk to them through that. So that's a great communication tool. And it can also play things like music or podcasts or the weather, or can answer all of your random trivia questions that you have.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

We don't need that. We have you, Rachel.

[Rachel Saracola]

There's also a really interesting service called Alexa Emergency Assist, and that's if somebody, they can call out to their Alexa speaker and it'll put them in touch with police or fire.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So similar to maybe not the same, but kind of similar to the idea of wearing a medical alert device where there's some kind of help on the other end.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes, yes. Except a lot of people don't love wearing those. So this you just call out. There was another device that came up called the Jubilee tv, and I found this to be really interesting application to use with people aging in place because it's actually a universal remote and you hook this thing up to a TV and it can be controlled remotely. So say I have it at my parents house set up, I can control their tv. I can also troubleshoot their tv, which I think a lot of people have had that issue where they've had to do some remote troubleshooting. It's not pleasant. Also it has a system in place where you can send messages or even do video chat. And the messages might be take your medication or you know, I'm coming over later or something. That was a very interesting system.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That is interesting. You know, Rachel, you are a smart home expert and we talked briefly about this last week with Doug around. When you are integrating smart home features into someone else's home and there is some sort of transparency communication that has to happen there. And I think you reported on that in this other tech piece you wrote. Can you share a little bit about what are the best practices if you're going to put a smart speaker or a smart thermostat or a smart camera or something in your parents home, say,

[Rachel Saracola]

I mean, you need to have a discussion with the person who's going to be living with it. That's not the kind of thing that you want to surprise anyone. You don't want any surprise messages popping up on the tv. It could make them paranoid or nervous. So it's very important to have that kind of discussion with someone. Also anybody else that's coming in the house, whether that's your siblings, professional caretaker, if you're going to have cameras, if you're going to have any smart devices, smart speakers, it's a household decision.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Even if you just have that stuff in your own home and say you have a babysitter, should you also be telling them that you have this smart stuff?

[Rachel Saracola]

It's a good idea to do that. Yes. And some places it can actually be illegal if you have that inside and you don't disclose to people coming in.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Okay, well you heard it here folks. That's important information.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Okay, so to recap, we just went over two of the challenging things about caretaking, which is scheduling and communication. So for scheduling you recommend the Skylight calendar and the Relish Day Hub to kind of keep everybody on the same page. And for communication, you know, there are free things you can do like sharing a notes app or even creating a Google Doc that you can share around and that's free. Or you can get the Amazon Echo or the Jubilee TV which can help communicate over phone or a video call or it can help you monitor. A lot of these options aren't cheap, but if you need them, then you need them and you price that cost based off of what you actually need.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

We're going to take a quick break and when we're back, we are going to talk about some of the tools that caregivers should consider for managing medications. That's a huge one. And all of the paperwork. So much paperwork. We'll be right back.

[Rachel Saracola]

Foreign.

[Alexa Advertisement]

Say hello to the all new Alexa plus our smartest, most proactive AI assistant yet. Chat naturally about anything and watch your to do list disappear. Planning date night one conversation handles everything from dinner reservations to entertainment. Alexa learns your style, anticipates what's next, and puts thousands of services at your fingertips. Experience AI that's all yours. And now Alexa is free with prime on your Amazon devices like echo and Fire TV.

[LinkedIn Advertisement]

Amazon.com Alexa for small businesses, every hire matters, but the time and resources required to hire right are Limited. Luckily, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is built for that reality. Posting a job isn't always the hard part. It's finding, connecting with and screening the right candidates. Hiring Pro streamlines the entire process. Nearly 60% of hirers find a candidate to interview within a week. Hire right the first time, post your job and get $100 off towards your job. [e-mail] Wirecutter that's LinkedIn.com Wirecutter. Terms and conditions apply.

[Northwestern Mutual Advertisement]

If you're a parent of a teen or have teens in your life, it can be hard to figure out the right way to approach social media and technology. Ultimately, if you feel like your teens are ready, there are tools to help. Instagram teen accounts have automatic protections for what your teens see and who can contact them. Plus time management tools like daily time limits and sleep mode. And Instagram will continue adding built in safety features to help create age appropriate experiences. Learn more about teen accounts and Instagram's ongoing work to protect teens [e-mail] teenaccounts that's instagram.com teenaccounts.

[Rachel Saracola]

Welcome back.

[Kyra Blackwell]

We're here with Rachel Saracola to talk about the tools that can help caregivers stay organized. So before the break we talked about some of the tech solutions for scheduling and communicating.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Now we're going to talk about managing medications. Rachel this strikes me really close to home. My mother in law passed away a couple years ago and in the last part of her life she had some memory loss and my sister in law was caring for her and my brother in law and the medication Part of it was just a really big issue. They didn't always know if she had taken the medication she needed to take. And we didn't really figure it out before the end for her. What are some of the solutions that some of the people that you talked to suggested?

[Rachel Saracola]

Well, for some people, a pillbox can work really well, but other people need something a little bit more advanced. And we. One of the people I spoke to was very big into something called the Hero Smart pill dispenser. This is a pill dispenser that connects to the Internet. It dispenses the right medication, the right amount of medication and at the right time of day. And also it'll alert you if the people are not taking that medication. So that is a huge difference between just a normal pillbox.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So it like, will it notify you on your phone?

[Rachel Saracola]

Basically. Okay, yes.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So you could be at work, you know, mom's supposed to take her pill at noon and it will notify you if she has or hasn't.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes, it sends alerts to both the user, so the person supposed to be taking the medication and then any designated caregivers in the app if they're not taking it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And how much does that cost?

[Rachel Saracola]

That's very expensive. It actually has a subscription cost that's $45 a month.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That's expensive.

[Rachel Saracola]

If you sign up, you have to have a 12 month commitment.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Wow.

[Rachel Saracola]

But I mean, if you don't take your medication, can you put a price on that? Probably not. I think they actually might offer a free trial before you lock yourself in. But one thing that's important to note is you should always check with your insurance company or if you have like an hsa, you should check and see if you can apply any of that to this device.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

A lot of these things we're talking about, like we've said, are expensive. But. But human time is also expensive. So if this is able to help you not have someone there all the time, then that could be financially better actually in some ways.

[Rachel Saracola]

Right, right. People that I spoke to, I mean, a common theme was there's no substitute for being there in person. But obviously you can't run over it every single time a pill needs to be taken or somebody doesn't know how to change the channel on the tv. So yes, being able to have these substitutes can help and also helps. Maybe you go in and you're spending more quality time versus counting pills and making sure medication is taken.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So we have this other bucket of things that need to be organized. It's Paperwork, it's budgeting, it's notes. What are the biggest challenges for caregivers when it comes to all of this?

[Rachel Saracola]

There's so much paperwork and just so many things to keep track of. Something that I never thought about before I had my own family experience were things like passwords. And I know at Wirecutter we recommend password managers, but just having any kind of record of passwords is a big deal. But you might also need, like, someone's birth certificate, their power of attorney paperwork, you know, account numbers. And I think something that I learned here is a lot of people want actual paper, which is something. Yes, they do.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Like, you mean agencies that you might be dealing with or banks or whatever.

[Rachel Saracola]

They're like a hospital. They might want it physically on paper. I spoke to one woman who said that someone told her to fax paperwork, and she was like, fax. Like, you know, I didn't know they still had fax machines.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So what are the best tools that you found to help with this category?

[Rachel Saracola]

A lot of people talked about having a folder or a binder that you keep things in. But also, as far as the fax, like, good luck finding a fax machine. There's a great service called Documo. It's a digital fax service, so you don't have to deal with an actual machine. And you can send stuff almost like sending it through email. Except what makes this service different than other digital fax services is that it's HIPAA compliant, so you don't have to worry about sending sensitive medical records or maybe your Social Security number or someone's Social Security number. It's a little bit more secure.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That's great.

[Rachel Saracola]

You can take pictures on your phone, or if you already have these documents on your. Your computer, it's easy to just send

[Christine Cyrclassette]

them digitally, and then it prints out on the other end to somebody else's fax machine, essentially. Okay.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes.

[Kyra Blackwell]

All right. What else?

[Rachel Saracola]

Another thing that came up was people love checklists. Who doesn't love a good checklist?

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I love a checklist.

[Rachel Saracola]

I love a checklist. And a good way to keep your checklist organized is through an app called Todoist. Not only can you keep track of tasks that need to be done, but also you can share them with other people. So someone I spoke to actually said that he would create a checklist for a professional caregiver, and they would be able to check it off, and he could see when things were being completed and also add things as necessary. And then, of course, you can also keep track of things like appointments or maybe questions you have to ask the doctor or grocery lists. So it was. Came in handy.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I actually used todoist. I used the free version to help me keep track of my assignments. I love it. I actually. I didn't realize you could send it to other people.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I tried. I tried. Well, I did. I signed up for it, but I couldn't figure out how to use it, so I stopped. I went back to my Google Docs.

[Rachel Saracola]

As techy as I am, I do love a good handwritten checklist because there is something satisfying about crossing things off.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Rachel Saracola]

One other thing that people talked about was having to organize finances, which I think we all have problems with just when it's one person or family, but when you throw someone else into the mix, it can be more complicated. So a person I spoke to recommended moneydance, which is a software program that allows you to keep track of multiple budgets. And this particular person I spoke to, he was dealing with his father's expenses, and he. He's a vet, so they were eligible to get money back from the VA for different expenses, but he needed to keep a detailed list of everything. So that might be like groceries or, you know, medications. I mean, imagine having to itemize everything in your budget and also for one person. Right. So this software makes it easy to pull those things out.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That's super handy. I like that.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

This is. There's just so many good tips in here. I feel like anybody who's kind of into this situation of caregiving, like at least one of these recommendations would probably suit. But let's just recap really briefly. So we've talked about medication. If you are in a situation where you're trying to help someone manage their medication, the Hero smart pill dispenser could be a really good solution in this case. It does have a pretty steep subscription service fee that comes along with it, but that might be worth it to you, depending on your situation. And then for this big category of paperwork, we've got Documo, which is the very cool faxing technology, which I even said it like it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Never thought you would say that.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I mean, I could probably use that because every once in a while I have to fax something todoist, which will help you make checklists and share them. And then money dance if you're looking for some solutions for budgeting.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. So we've talked about a lot of tech solutions, but what if somebody isn't super tech savvy? How should someone gauge whether to invest in these tools? Because they are really Expensive. And of course, if it doesn't work, then you're out a lot of money.

[Rachel Saracola]

They're very expensive. I would say that if you're not comfortable with technology, you should really ease into it. A lot of people love having a journal or they, like I said, they love having folders. You need to figure out what is best for you. You don't want to complicate things by adding tech into it if you're not comfortable with the technology. A lot of these things, though, they make it very easy to learn. I wouldn't jump in and go buy everything on our list if you're not super comfortable with technology, but there are a lot of devices that you can try.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Rachel, you have this other piece that we mentioned at the top of the episode. We'll link it in the show notes and it's tech devices to help aging in place. Are there any other items in this piece that are relevant to the conversation we've had today that would be really helpful if you're a caregiver trying to manage someone remotely or maybe even in the same town? What are some of the sort of highlights from that piece that you. That you would want to bring here?

[Rachel Saracola]

I would say a few of my favorite devices are also some of the easiest devices to add, and those would be smart bulbs and smart plugs. Both are relatively inexpensive and easy to set up and can really change a person's day to day. When it comes to smart bulbs, I don't know about you, but I hate walking into a dark room. Someone that's older could risk falling or just injuring themselves. Smart bulbs, it's as easy as screwing in a light bulb and you connect it to an app and you can set it up to go on and off at certain times of day. A little bit more complicated, you could set up with a motion sensor so someone walks into the room and the light goes on. That's very easy to implement. And also smart plugs, it just plugs into the wall, connects to an app, and anything electrical that plugs into the wall you can plug into the smart plug. So maybe you have a fan or a lamp and you can just control that with an app similar to the smart plugs, set it to go on and off at different times of day.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That's great. I know some people use that for their AC too.

[Rachel Saracola]

Yes. So it's not running all day. But also maybe you turn it on like before you get home so it's not super hot in the room.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Okay, Rachel, we've made it to the last Question. Which is what's the last thing you've bought that you've really loved?

[Rachel Saracola]

I didn't buy it, but I just got the ninja air fryer, which I love. I love it. It's so easy to. I had a different air fryer and it was just a mess and I was afraid it was going to catch on fire at some point. But this one is so easy to clean, and it looks small, but it holds a lot and takes up less space on the counter. And I love it. It.

[Kyra Blackwell]

What do you mean you didn't buy it?

[Rachel Saracola]

I didn't buy it.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Did you steal it?

[Rachel Saracola]

No, no. But it was. It was gifted to me after some heavy suggestions that I wanted it. That's lovely.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Well, this has been super helpful, Rachel. We'll link to everything we talked about in the show notes today.

[Rachel Saracola]

Great. Thank you.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Thanks for being here. Thank.

[Rachel Saracola]

You,

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Kyra. This truly was one of the heavier topics we've covered on the show.

[Kyra Blackwell]

A bit harrowing, I'm not gonna lie.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah. I mean, caregiving, there's probably no greater service and honor you can show your loved ones than taking care of them, whether they're children, whether they're your aging parents. And it can be very challenging. It's very emotional. And then there's just so many details to keep track of.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

The big takeaway that I'm taking from this conversation with Rachel is that that focusing on the ways that you can build some of these tools into your life to help you stay organized can maybe lift some of the burden. Whether it's building better ways to communicate with the people that you're working with, whether it's budgeting, thinking through what are the things that will have the biggest payoff for you. And I don't think that everything we talked about in this episode is gonna be right for everyone.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Right.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I mean, one thing that is right for me personally, I think, is something like this skylight calendar. I really like this.

[Kyra Blackwell]

You guys lit up at that point.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah. I was like, oo, I need this. I think that something like that would be really helpful just for my family.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. I think a lot of these products that Rachel recommended could be used. I have trouble remembering things, which is why I use todoist. I think it's super helpful. And now I know I can send my checklist to other people. Didn't know that before. A reality that I have really come to realize exists in this world of care taking. Caregiving is the massive cost along with the emotional cost and the time it is. Is expensive to use many of these things.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I think it's just everybody has to do what's best for their families, for the people in their lives. You're not going to be able to buy all this stuff, maybe not even be able to buy any of it. But we have mentioned some free things in here. So it's kind of like you just have to assess your own situation and prioritize what you think you'll get the most value out of.

[Rachel Saracola]

Right?

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah. Well, if you are interested in anything that we mentioned today, we will have everything linked in our show. Notes, notes, links to Rachel's articles, both of the articles we talked about, and all of the products we mentioned today.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That's it for us until next week. Thank you so much for listening. Bye. The Wirecutter show is executive produced by Rosie Garon and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Maddie Mazziello and Nick Pittman. Today's episode was mixed by Katherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lee Lozano, Alicia Ba? Itup, Katherine Anderson, Rowan Nimisto and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter's deputy publisher and general manager. Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's editor in chief. I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Thanks for listening.

[Rachel Saracola]

I made it all the way to the end, but I didn't wager all of my points and the last question and the other guy did and we both got the question right.

[LinkedIn Advertisement]

For small businesses, every hire matters. But the time and resources required to hire right are Limited. Luckily, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is built for that reality. Posting a job isn't always the hard part. It's finding, connecting with and screening the right candidates. Hiring Pro streamlines the entire process. Nearly 60% of hirers find a candidate to interview within a week. Hire right the first time, post your job and get $100 off towards your job. [e-mail] Wirecutter that's LinkedIn.com Wirecutter terms and conditions apply.