The Josie King Foundation created the Care Journal to fill a need, one that Sorrel felt the first day she set foot in Hopkins, when her daughter Josie was hospitalized. The Care Journal is a tool to help patients and their loved ones record the details of their medical care. Hospitalization can be an overwhelming experience; in addition to the stress of being faced with health challenges, there is also the added stress of having to keep track of new and important information. The Care Journal was designed to help patients manage this information.

The Care Journal has thirty daily journal entries. Each entry consists of prompts that take the guesswork out of what information to remember. Prompts include:

Parking place Names of medical team on duty Daily goals Medications Surgery/procedures Diet Questions to ask Thoughts

The Care Journal also includes a brief description of how to use it, plus quick tips to help manage your hospital stay. The journal is easy to use and small enough to fit in a bag.

If you are a hospital
There is often a disconnect that exists between patients and their caregivers. The Josie King Foundation’s goal in creating the Care Journal is to help bridge this gap. Often when a caregiver sees a patient or a patient’s loved one taking notes they view it as a threat, when in reality, the patient is just trying to stay organized.

When the hospital hands the patient or the patient’s loved one a Care Journal upon admission it sends a positive message—“Here is a gift from us to you. We encourage you to keep track of information and to ask questions and most of all we invite you to partner with us in your care.”

Our goal is for hospitals to partner with us in the Care Journal Campaign by making a donation to the Foundation. In return we will provide journals for the hospitals to present to their patients as a gift.

Is your organization interested in including a special message to your patients along with the Care Journal? We have designed an optional bookmark template to help with this. The bookmark can be customized with your logo, and then placed in the Care Journal.

We invite hospitals and medical practices to join us as Care Journal Partners when they give Care Journals to give to their patients.

If you would like to order Care Journals or learn more information about bulk order pricing, please email carejournal@josieking.org.

If you are a patient
It is our hope that anybody who needs a Care Journal obtains a Care Journal. The Josie King Foundation will ship a Care Journal to any patient. We suggest a donation of $15.00 or more, which covers the cost of developing and printing the Care Journal, plus shipping and handling. We welcome donations of any amount, because the money raised from the Care Journals goes to support innovative patient safety programs throughout the country. Please email carejournal@josieking.org to request a Care Journal.

Please note: The next shipment of small quantities of Care Journals will occur in early August. We will still be able to ship bulk quantities during this time. Thank you for understanding.