Step 1 · Plan while choices are available
Talk about the difficult day before it arrives
The goal is not to predict every event. It is to learn what matters, identify who will help, and make the first emergency less chaotic.
□Where would the Veteran prefer to receive care if home becomes unsafe?
□Who can provide hands-on help—and what can they realistically not do?
□Which family member should coordinate medical, VA, legal, and financial tasks?
□What tradeoffs matter most: staying nearby, privacy, cost, memory care, or military community?
□What treatment, quality-of-life, and end-of-life wishes should be documented?
Keep in mindInclude the caregiver’s health, job, sleep, finances, and limits. A plan that depends on unlimited unpaid care is not a complete plan.