Guide

Five questions worth asking your parents this Thanksgiving

The holidays are often the first time in months you see your parents in person. It is also when you notice what has changed. Leave the clipboard at home. Atticus can find the medicines, the doctors and the records on its own. Save the table for the questions only family can ask.

1. What has gotten harder than it used to be?

Listen for the small things. The drive to appointments. The stairs. Keeping the pills straight. A pharmacy that keeps running out. Few parents raise these on their own, and they are often the first sign the work of staying well is piling up. Each one is a next step Atticus can take, from a ride to a refill at the door.

2. Is anything worrying you that you haven't mentioned?

A test result nobody explained. A symptom they keep putting off. These come out when someone asks directly and then listens. You don't have to solve it at the table. Atticus explains every record in plain words and gets the right visit on the calendar. The worry becomes a plan.

3. Who do you want to know when something happens?

In an emergency, the call goes to whoever is on an old form. Ask now, and your parent decides who is in their corner. With Atticus, your parent chooses their circle and what each person sees. If something happens, everyone they chose hears that same night. Nobody makes twenty calls.

4. What would you rather never deal with again?

The usual answers are hold music, portals, passwords, forms and lapsed refills. That is the list Atticus takes off their plate. Hearing it in their own words tells you where to start.

5. Can I help you with this?

This is the question that matters most, and the one people skip. Ask if they want you part of their care, and let the answer be theirs. Some parents want you in on everything. Others want you only for emergencies. Naming you healthcare power of attorney is a separate legal step, taken with a lawyer.

What you don't need to ask

Skip the photos of pill bottles, the list of doctors' names and the drawer of discharge papers. With your parent's permission, Atticus finds their records from every doctor, hospital, lab and pharmacy and keeps them current. The people at the table get to just be family.

Setting it up at the table

If your parent says yes, setup takes about five minutes. They text Atticus from their own phone, give permission to find their records and add you to their circle. From then on, Atticus takes the next steps and the family watches them get done.