As told by the Reluctant Family COO
Ah, the family group text. Truly the pinnacle of modern health information sharing. Who needs HIPAA-compliant tools or organized systems when you can just blast out half-complete updates on mom's condition between memes, dinner photos, and the occasional “K?”
Need to know when Mom’s cardiology follow-up is? Just scroll back past the six GIFs Aunt Linda sent last week and somewhere between your brother’s hot take on airline peanuts and that weird forwarded prayer chain… voilà! There’s the date. Or is that her dentist appointment? Or the vet’s? Who knows! It’s a magical scavenger hunt every time.
Medication list? Easy. Just ask the group. Your sister thinks she took off the beta blocker but maybe not, and your cousin replies, “Is that the purple one or the white one?” Perfect. We’re practically pharmacists.
And when Mom lands in the ER (again), nothing says “streamlined coordination” like 17 overlapping texts asking who can get there, what the nurse said, and whether someone already called Dr. What's-His-Name. We definitely won’t contradict each other or forget anything important. 🙃
Sarcasm aside, maybe—just maybe—it’s time we stopped using the same method for managing Mom’s health that we use for deciding where to order takeout.
It’s not about adding another app to your phone. It’s about finally having a real system that keeps everyone informed, aligned, and maybe even a little less panicked.
Because Mom deserves better than “Wait, what did the doctor say again?”
