I registered for the Simple Spreadsheets course because I was a beginner with using Excel and I knew I was utilizing only a fraction of its capabilities.
I also had the good fortune of attending some of Ann’s in-person presentations about data visualization at a conference for Continuous Quality Improvement hosted by the California Department of Social Services, which had an unquantifiable impact on the personal project I will be sharing with you today.
Although I signed up for learning from Ann to benefit my professional life, I was also able to apply the learnings in my personal sphere as you will see below!
Although this example was in the personal realm, I think there are potentially a lot of other applications for visualizing data in this way.
The Challenge
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, my mom and aunt had to fire my grandma’s caregiver due to a personality mismatch and not being on the same page about grandma’s needs.
This was the second time it happened in a few months and it seemed like part of the challenge was in the matching process and educating the caregivers about grandma’s unique needs, and her personality.
Getting Everyone on the Same Page
I wanted to do something to help, so I created a 11×17 one sheet introduction for the new caregiver with input from my grandma, auntie and mom.
My grandma’s previous caregivers were not native English speakers, so I wanted to make something that was approachable, and also captured my grandma’s personality.
I remembered in one of Ann’s presentations that she told us about the icons at The Noun Project website, so I used icons accompanied by brief descriptions.
It made sense to me to organize the info into two columns, and I made the text as clear and simple as possible.
The Result
Here’s the one-pager that I made for my grandma’s caregivers.
Outcome
Unfortunately, grandma is no longer with us.
But I’m happy to report that after providing the caregiving agency with the 11×17 sheet, she was matched with a caregiver that she LOVED, and who told us she loved our grandma too.
The caregiver was with her for a year and a half, until she passed.
I can’t tell you how comforting it was to know that she was in the hands of someone who was not only competent, but genuinely cared for her.
The caregiving agency kept a copy of the sheet in grandma’s file and shared it with substitute caregivers when the primary caregiver had time off. This helped the substitute caregivers provide more consistent care for grandma.
Potential Applications
Since its creation, I’ve shared this sheet with many of my friends who have made similar sheets for their loved ones.
Some of my friends have all joked that they need something like this for their dating life. Maybe it has other applications too? What do you think?
Sharing with Gratitude
Here is an editable Word copy that you can use for your own purposes!
Vivian Jefferson 
Melanie 
Erika
4 Comments
This is such a great idea, Meiko! I love the use of the icons. I wish I would have had something like this for my mother.
This is so good. Thank you for sharing Mieko. I am thinking that this might help me with my mom!
Thank you for sharing this! I just love Hideko and her uniqueness! I know I will use this in some capacity in the future. Appreciate it!
Thank you so much for sharing! This was a fantastic idea that I am sure I will be using in the future.