Do a household health assessment with your own doctor
List every person's health needs before you move far from care, so the rest of the estate (power, water, rooms, budget) is designed around them. Do it with your own doctor, not from the internet.
How
- Make one page per person: name, date of birth, long-term conditions, current medicines and supplies, allergies, past operations, vaccinations, blood group if known.
- Add the easily forgotten items: glasses and contact lenses, hearing aids, dentures, mobility aids, dental problems, pregnancies, babies, older relatives and pets.
- Book a review with each person's doctor. Tell them you plan to live far from hospitals and pharmacies for long periods and ask what that changes for this person.
- Ask which conditions could become an emergency without regular care, and what early warning signs to watch for.
- Book a dental check and an eye test for everyone before the move, so known problems are fixed while care is easy to reach.
- Bring everyone's tetanus vaccination up to date before the move and record the date. CDC advises adult boosters every 10 years, and a booster after a wound if more than 5 years have passed.
- Record what the doctor says in plain words and keep it in the paper health file (medical-5).
Safety: This step is planning, not medical advice. Decisions about medicines, doses and treatment belong to your own clinician.
Do these first
Sources
- Emergency preparedness for people with chronic conditions (infographic). US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), accessed 2026-11
- Tips for Medications. Ready.gov (US FEMA), accessed 2026-11
- Financial Preparedness. Ready.gov (US FEMA), accessed 2026-11
- Oral Health Tips for Adults. CDC, accessed 2026-11
- Use of Tdap and Td vaccines: updated recommendations, MMWR 2020. US CDC, accessed 2026-11