Hospital Discharge Checklist for an Aging Parent

Discharge usually moves faster than families expect. A nurse comes in with a folder, someone says the word "today," and the person who has been sitting in that chair for three days is suddenly responsible for medications, follow-up appointments, equipment, and a house nobody has been inside since the ambulance left.

This checklist is built for that hour. Work through it before you leave the room. Nearly all of it gets harder once you are in the parking lot, and considerably harder after five o'clock.

Before you leave the room

Ask to be included in discharge planning, and ask for written discharge instructions before you leave. Ask these while the team is still in front of you.

• What changed during this stay, in plain language?
• What are we watching for at home, and what specifically should prompt a call?
• Who do we call — during office hours, and after hours?
• What activity is expected or limited, and for how long?
• Is any help at home being arranged, and by whom?
• Is a home health referral being made? Has it been accepted?
• Who is our contact if something goes wrong tomorrow?
• May we have the discharge instructions in writing before we go?

Write the answers down as you get them. You will not remember them in the car, and the person you hand this to on Thursday was not in the room.

Medication changes deserve a careful review before you leave

Your parent's medication list may look different after a hospital stay. Ask the discharge team to walk you through the final medication list and explain what was stopped, started or changed from before the hospitalization.

Questions to ask the discharge team or pharmacist

• Which medications from before are being stopped?
• Which are continuing at a different dose?
• Which are brand new?
• Are there duplicates — the same drug under two names?
• Should any over-the-counter items, vitamins or supplements pause?
• When is the first dose of anything new actually due?
• Which pharmacy has these, and is anything ready to collect now?

Follow-up appointments

"Follow up with your doctor in a week" is not an appointment. Before you leave, find out whether it has been booked, or whether booking it is now your job.

• Which appointments are needed, with whom, and by when?
• Are any already scheduled? Write down date, time, location, and phone number.
• Which ones do we need to call and arrange?
• Does any appointment need results, imaging or records sent ahead?
• Is a telehealth visit an option for any of them?
• Who is taking your parent to each one?

Equipment and supplies

Equipment is the item most likely to be discovered missing at the worst moment — usually at the front door, with someone who cannot get up the step.

• What equipment is needed — walker, commode, shower chair, hospital bed, oxygen, wound supplies?
• Is it being delivered, or collected? By whom, and when?
• Will it arrive before your parent does?
• Has anyone shown you how to use it?
• What supplies run out, and who reorders them?
• What is covered, and what will be out of pocket?

Is the house actually ready?

Somebody needs to walk through the home before your parent arrives, ideally today. If you are at the hospital, this is the single most useful task to hand to whoever offered to help.

• Is the path from car to door passable — steps, thresholds, ice, clutter?
• Can they reach the bathroom from wherever they will be sleeping?
• Is sleeping upstairs still realistic, or does a bed need to move down?
• Are the rugs, cords and low furniture on that path out of the way?
• Are lights working on that route, including at night?
• Is the phone within reach of the bed and the chair?
• Is there food in the house, and something easy for the first day?
• Is the heat or air on, and the mail and any pets handled?

Warning signs and who to call

Your discharge team will give you specific things to watch for, particular to your parent's situation. Write them here rather than relying on memory or on general advice found online — the list that matters is theirs, not anyone else's.

• Specific signs the team told us to watch for
• Who to call during office hours, and the number
• Who to call after hours, and the number
• What they told us would warrant emergency care
• Which pharmacy to call about medication questions

Who is doing what

This is the part that gets skipped, and it is the part that determines how the next two weeks actually go. Before everyone scatters from the hospital, put names against the jobs — out loud, and written down.

• Who collects the prescriptions, and when?
• Who is at the house when your parent arrives?
• Who books the appointments that are not yet booked?
• Who takes them to each appointment?
• Who is doing the first grocery run?
• Who stays the first night, if anyone?
• Who updates the rest of the family, and how often?
• Who is the single point of contact for the medical team?

An unassigned task is not a shared task — it is an assumed one, and it is usually assumed by whoever is already doing the most.

What to take with you

• Written discharge instructions
• The current medication list
• Any prescriptions not sent electronically
• Contact details for the follow-up providers
• Equipment paperwork and supplier details
• Home health agency name and contact, if arranged
• Personal belongings — glasses, hearing aids, dentures, phone and charger, clothing, valuables from the safe

Getting home

• Who is driving, and is the vehicle suitable for getting in and out?
• Is medical transport needed? Who arranges it and who pays?
• Is there a stop to make on the way — pharmacy, food?
• Is someone meeting you at the house?

The first few days

The first few days home bring several moving pieces together at once: medication changes, follow-up care, equipment, new routines and family responsibilities. Our First Week Home After Hospital guide walks through that transition step by step.