What to track between appointments.

You see your loved one every day. The doctor sees them for fifteen minutes every few months. Tracking the right things turns you from a worried family member into the most valuable source of clinical information in the room.

The "big four" most caregivers should track

1. Mood and behavior changes

What to note: increased confusion, agitation, sadness, withdrawal, anxiety. When does it happen, time of day, after which meals, before or after which medications? Patterns matter more than any single moment.

2. Sleep

Roughly when they go to bed, when they wake up, how many times they wake in the night, whether they nap during the day. Sleep changes are an early warning sign for many conditions.

3. Appetite and weight

Are they finishing meals or pushing food around? Is there a specific food they suddenly won't eat? Weight changes over weeks, track informally with a bathroom scale or estimate from how their clothes fit.

4. Falls, near-falls, or new physical issues

Every fall matters, including the ones where they "caught themselves." Patterns of unsteadiness, dizziness on standing, weakness on one side, these are clinically significant.

What you don't need to track

• Vital signs at home, unless the doctor specifically asked you to (blood pressure cuffs and pulse oximeters are sometimes worth it, but ask first)
• Every small variation in behavior, track patterns, not single events
• Things the medical record already captures (lab values, imaging results)

How to track without making it a second job

Some caregivers like notebooks. Some like apps. Some like a single sentence per day on a calendar. What works is the simplest thing you'll actually do every day for months. A few common approaches:

• One-sentence-a-day notebook. "Slept poorly, ate full breakfast, agitated after 4pm." Takes 10 seconds.
• Calendar with codes. Use a wall calendar; write a single letter for the day's overall trend (G/F/B for good/fair/bad), with a longer note only on bad days.
• Phone notes. A running note in your phone, organized by date.
• Voice memos. Particularly useful if writing is hard at the end of long days.

What to bring to appointments

Don't bring the raw notes. Bring a summary: "In the last month, mornings have been worse, more confused, more agitated, settling by afternoon. Three falls, none injurious. Eating about 75% of meals. Sleeping 6 hours with 1–2 wakeups per night."

That kind of summary, delivered in 30 seconds, is exactly what the doctor needs to adjust the care plan well.