How to help elderly parents with tests and doctor's appointments

Start with a conversation: ask what help they need and what they want to decide themselves. If they agree, settle who keeps the test results and doctors' reports, and make a list of their medicines and doses together.

Before an appointment, help them write down questions and complaints, and if they don't mind, go with them. A second person in the room remembers more, and afterwards there is someone to check with about what the doctor said.